A revision of the British The Illustrated Dictionary of Animal Life. Each of the 800 entries includes the part of speech, a brief definition, and a sentence using the term. A few—e.g., ``predator,'' ``dinosaur,'' and ``invertebrate''—receive full-page treatment; but, generally, much of the information given is too terse to be helpful. For example, potoos are ``nocturnal birds from Central and South America,'' but pottos are ``primates that live in the tropical forests of West Africa''; with only 200 illustrations in all here and few clues to size, habits, or relatives, readers might do better to consult an unabridged general dictionary. Moreover: scientific names are not provided; many definitions use several specialized terms in bold type that must be looked up elsewhere in the dictionary; some material is dated (e.g., apatosaurus is still ``brontosaurus''); and the editing is careless (the polar bear is ``the largest carnivore that lives on land,'' but ``the largest [bear] is the Alaskan brown bear''). The definition for insect also doesn't indicate that insects have three main body parts; and the world map of habitats seems to indicate that the US from Vermont to Florida is a temperate forest. Overall, there's too much focus on common names for particular species, many of them British and unfamiliar, and too little on concepts needed to understand animal life. Attractive format; seriously flawed content. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-13-681719-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1992
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
“Hear, and listen well, my friends, and I will tell you a tale that has been told for a thousand years and more.” It’s not exactly a rarely told tale, either, though this complete rendition is distinguished by both handsome packaging and a prose narrative that artfully mixes alliterative language reminiscent of the original, with currently topical references to, for instance, Grendel’s “endless terror raids,” and the “holocaust at Heorot.” Along with being printed on heavy stock and surrounded by braided borders, the text is paired to colorful scenes featuring a small human warrior squaring off with a succession of grimacing but not very frightening monsters in battles marked by but a few discreet splashes of blood. Morpurgo puts his finger on the story’s enduring appeal—“we still fear the evil that stalks out there in the darkness . . . ”—but offers a version unlikely to trouble the sleep of more sensitive readers or listeners. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3206-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
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