Pleasing and stimulating.
From pompoms to Ph.D.!
Mireya Mayor, a Cuban American primatologist who grew up in Miami, was interested in wild animals from a young age—her childhood home teemed with animals, from dogs to snapping turtles to a chicken and everything in between. Although her interest in nature hit a speed bump when her mother sent her to ballet class instead of letting her join the Girl Scouts, Mireya discovered a talent for dance that led to her becoming an NFL cheerleader while she attended college. Her desire to work with animals—particularly primates—led her to international fieldwork in the jungles of South America as well as struggles with colleagues who judged Mireya based on her looks and not her accomplishments. Her continued work in far-off places caught the attention of National Geographic, which made her its first woman wildlife TV reporter, and on an expedition to Madagascar, Mireya discovered a new species of lemur. With this discovery, Mireya successfully petitioned the prime minister of Madagascar to create a national park to ensure the lemur’s survival. The story effectively documents Mireya’s career path, and attentive readers and caregivers will have moments to consider themes of prejudice and how everyone has unlimited capability for divergent interests. The backmatter, which contains additional information about mouse lemurs and the lemur reserve and an author’s note with more details about Mireya’s career path, including how she obtained her doctorate, will help direct curious readers to learn more. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pleasing and stimulating. (glossary, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-4085-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched.
An amiable introduction to our thrifty, sociable, teeming insect cousins.
Bunting notes that all the ants on Earth weigh roughly the same as all the people and observes that ants (like, supposedly, us) love recycling, helping others, and taking “micronaps.” They, too, live in groups, and their “superpower” is an ability to work together to accomplish amazing things. Bunting goes on to describe different sorts of ants within the colony (“Drone. Male. Does no housework. Takes to the sky. Reproduces. Drops dead”), how they communicate using pheromones, and how they get from egg to adult. He concludes that we could learn a lot from them that would help us leave our planet in better shape than it was when we arrived. If he takes a pass on mentioning a few less positive shared traits (such as our tendency to wage war on one another), still, his comparisons do invite young readers to observe the natural world more closely and to reflect on our connections to it. In the simple illustrations, generic black ants look up at viewers with little googly eyes while scurrying about the pages gathering food, keeping nests clean, and carrying outsized burdens.
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567784
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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