On the surface, a simple story of a fox; with help from an older reader, an intriguing visual representation of a beginning...
Jenkins and Smythe follow a fox’s search for food and introduce the concepts of light and dark to the very young.
As day turns to night, a fox comes out of her den. She is hungry. She steps cautiously down the path, looking for food. Jenkins acknowledges the fox’s keen eyesight (“She has sharp eyes…”) but in setting up the science-concept theme, mentions something that rings a bit untrue: “…but she still finds it hard to see when it is dark.” Dim light is indeed needed for his exploration of the theme, but the simplicity of the sentence downplays a fox’s nocturnal prowess. Regardless, moonlight, streetlights, car headlights, firelight, and flashlight beams all penetrate the night while the fox is on the hunt. Smythe’s saturated mixed-media illustrations punctuate the dusky blackness with pockets of bright spots to reinforce the lesson. Frontmatter reminds adult readers of themes to discuss: “Moonlight is light from the sun that has bounced off the moon.” Backmatter poses discussion questions: “Can you find examples of different light sources in the book?” A simple index, a trademark of the series, closes the book.
On the surface, a simple story of a fox; with help from an older reader, an intriguing visual representation of a beginning science theme. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9883-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Make space on the bookshelf for this engaging title.
Onomatopoeic words representing city sounds invite children to guess what they are.
A completely black double-page spread with the words “Did you hear that?” printed in white starts the book and sets the tone. There will be no visual cues here, just an array of onomatopoeic words that prompt guesses. Some are easy: “Honk,” “vroom,” “beep,” and “zoom” clearly lead to cars. But others, such as “hustle,” “bustle,” “march,” “talk,” “walk,” and “go,” will make them think a little more before they turn the page to learn that it’s a group of lively pedestrians. Grown-ups reading with young children can help the game—and have fun along the way—by reading expressively, aided by the printing of key words in colored type. While the pages with the clues present colorful words simply set against a plain white background, the pages with the answers offer an explosion of bright, vibrant, and stylized mixed-media images portraying a diverse cast of city dwellers. Companion volume Rumble, Rumble, Grumble, Grumble shares the same presentation and concept, but the sounds here are related to nature. Both books have plenty of vocabulary-building heft, adding value to the guessing game: “screeching,” “shrieking,” and “hissing,” to name a few. The pages are made of a tear-resistant substance, making these good choices to take toddlers from board books to picture books.
Make space on the bookshelf for this engaging title. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1657-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An appealing, attractive, and accessible introduction to endangered sea turtles.
The most fascinating part of this simple photo essay is the last statement made by the narrator, a baby leatherback sea turtle: “Someday I will come back to this same beach. I will lay eggs of my own.”
Although further explained in the backmatter (written for adults), this promise omits the fact that these turtles often travel 10,000 miles per year. As the main audience of this engaging description of leatherback sea turtles is very young children, and the book has a specific focus on the first days of life, the author sticks to a few details about the physical activities undertaken by the hatchling as she makes her way from the buried nest on a beach to the nearby sea. Readers might want to know where this beach is and where these turtles can be found, information not provided beyond the general statement that “They live in all of the world’s oceans.” This is not strictly true, as they are not found in the Arctic and Antarctic oceans. These quibbles aside, the easy-to-read text in clear type on blue backgrounds combines with Feuillet’s large photographs (often close-ups) to give readers a step-by-step account of the new turtle’s emergence from the egg to the top of the nest, across the beach, to the water: “WATCH ME RUN!”
An appealing, attractive, and accessible introduction to endangered sea turtles. (further information, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-7812-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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