Plants and animals have many different ways to enter dormancy, using minimal energy when weather extremes or seasonal changes require a pause.
Many books for young children address the concept of hibernation, but Atkins develops the concept further, introducing the many different forms dormancy takes. Her simple, second-person text asks readers to imagine being a tree, ladybug, Arctic ground squirrel, chickadee, or alligator in cold weather or an earthworm in a drought. She describes the situation that leads to a timeout, repeating the line, “You would pause,” then tells what happens next: Leaves unfurl, ladybugs “wiggle awake,” ground squirrels’ heartbeats “quicken,” chickadees fly, alligators come out to sun themselves, and earthworms “moisten [their] skin…and squirm.” She makes clear that this resting state may last anywhere from a few hours to a season. Large, close-up photographs from various sources show the trees and animals and the weather conditions that prompt these activities. Helpful backmatter explains the different forms of dormancy, including diapause, hibernation, torpor, brumation, and estivation, for older readers. Here, the author gives further detail about dormancy in volcanoes as well as seeds and deciduous trees, and she mentions that, contrary to popular knowledge, some scientists use the word “torpor” to describe bears in winter. The attractive design uses display type to highlight the action words.
A refreshingly original exploration of a physical process both common and important in the natural world. (further reading, photo acknowledgments) (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-6192-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Pearl and her robot, Pascal, take their coding skills for a spin at the amusement park in this Girls Who Code picture book, a follow-up to How To Code a Sandcastle (2018).
The park has many rides to choose from, and Pearl has 10 tokens to last her the day. But her favorite ride, the Python roller coaster, looks busy. Pearl decides to do something else fun, using code concepts such as variables to keep track of the length of the line and her remaining tokens and a conditional statement to decide when to return to the Python. Throughout, computer science terms are defined crisply in the text and vividly illustrated in the pictures, which use images such as popcorn bags for variables and the Ferris wheel for loops (keeping track of ice cream flavors seems somewhat contrived). The backmatter explains these ideas more fully. Pascal’s too-literal interpretations of Pearl’s statements make for several amusing moments along the way. When Pearl runs short of tokens (a missed opportunity to talk about checking for more than one condition?), she’s undaunted by the disaster, taking readers on a fun hunt for a secret hidden password, in a nod to the importance of proper sequencing. Pearl has brown skin and black curls; others at the park have a variety of skin tones.
Despite minor bumps, a ride that’s worth returning to. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-425-29203-7
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Sea otters are the key to healthy kelp forests on the Pacific coast of North America.
There have been several recent titles for older readers about the critical role sea otters play in the coastal Pacific ecosystem. This grand, green version presents it to even younger readers and listeners, using a two-level text and vivid illustrations. Biologist Buhrman-Deever opens as if she were telling a fairy tale: “On the Pacific coast of North America, where the ocean meets the shore, there are forests that have no trees.” The treelike forms are kelp, home to numerous creatures. Two spreads show this lush underwater jungle before its king, the sea otter, is introduced. A delicate balance allows this system to flourish, but there was a time that hunting upset this balance. The writer is careful to blame not the Indigenous peoples who had always hunted the area, but “new people.” In smaller print she explains that Russian explorations spurred the development of an international fur trade. Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance. “People do not always understand at first the changes they cause when they take too much.” Sea urchins take over; a page turn reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when hunting stops and the otters return…and with them, the kelp forests.
A simple but effective look at a keystone species. (further information, select bibliography, additional resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8934-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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