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LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS

Name: LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS
Author: Martin Brown
ISBN: 978-1-338-08934-9

THE COOLEST CREATURES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

by Martin Brown ; illustrated by Martin Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 2017

This ambitious nonfiction picture book uncovering extraordinary, rarely spotlighted creatures is both informative and...

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Meet the numbat, fairy armadillo, zorilla, banded linsang, hirola, and a world of lesser-known animals.

Martin takes on his first written and illustrated project in an experimental, factual study of unfamiliar animals that offers a cheekily entertaining collection of fascinating creatures. Each double-page spread features one animal and related data: its size, what it eats, where it lives, a general description of the beast, comparisons to other animals, and, crucially, the animal’s status—ranging from endangered to “least concern,” with a couple who are “data deficient.” Sharing space with the (mostly) realistic depictions of these animals are cartoons, many of them with quips or other remarks young readers will appreciate. Martin creatively offers as thumbnails often humorous illustrations of other animals as comparison, and he depicts their ranges on unlabeled but recognizable maps. The solid background colors vary from blue ocean depths to sandy African and Middle Eastern desert lands. Young readers will chuckle multiple times or simply ask questions; the word “ass” or “asses” is used eight times in the onager entry, and there’s a tidbit about British explorer John Speke, who suffered “the unhelpful setback of dying.” What is perhaps the most important feature is the book’s not-at-all-subtle mission to encourage the protection of status-threatened creatures.

This ambitious nonfiction picture book uncovering extraordinary, rarely spotlighted creatures is both informative and funny—quite a feat. (glossary, key) (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-338-08934-9

Page Count: 56

Publisher: David Fickling/Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
EVEN MORE LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS
by Martin Brown ; illustrated by Martin Brown

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TWO CRAFTY CRIMINALS!
by Philip Pullman & illustrated by Martin Brown

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CODY HARMON, KING OF PETS

From the Franklin School Friends series

by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Rob Shepperson ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2016

Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading.

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When Franklin School principal Mr. Boone announces a pet-show fundraiser, white third-grader Cody—whose lack of skill and interest in academics is matched by keen enthusiasm for and knowledge of animals—discovers his time to shine.

As with other books in this series, the children and adults are believable and well-rounded. Even the dialogue is natural—no small feat for a text easily accessible to intermediate readers. Character growth occurs, organically and believably. Students occasionally, humorously, show annoyance with teachers: “He made mad squinty eyes at Mrs. Molina, which fortunately she didn’t see.” Readers will be kept entertained by Cody’s various problems and the eventual solutions. His problems include needing to raise $10 to enter one of his nine pets in the show (he really wants to enter all of them), his troublesome dog Angus—“a dog who ate homework—actually, who ate everything and then threw up afterward”—struggles with homework, and grappling with his best friend’s apparently uncaring behavior toward a squirrel. Serious values and issues are explored with a light touch. The cheery pencil illustrations show the school’s racially diverse population as well as the memorable image of Mr. Boone wearing an elephant costume. A minor oddity: why does a child so immersed in animal facts call his male chicken a rooster but his female chickens chickens?

Another winner from Mills, equally well suited to reading aloud and independent reading. (Fiction. 7-10)

Pub Date: June 14, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-374-30223-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOST LANGUAGE
by Claudia Mills

- BOOK REVIEW
BOOGIE BASS, SIGN LANGUAGE STAR
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong

- BOOK REVIEW
LUCY LOPEZ, CODING STAR
by Claudia Mills ; illustrated by Grace Zong

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ACOUSTIC ROOSTER AND HIS BARNYARD BAND

by Kwame Alexander & illustrated by Tim Bowers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2011

Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...

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Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.

Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.