This picture book is a pleasure to read and is sure to become the favorite of some future naturalist.
Children know that wild animals live outside, and this book offers them the opportunity to see where and learn how they live.
In Holland’s crisp photographs, readers will see animals and their habitats up close and in detail. Each image is bright and clear, revealing impressive amounts of texture. One can imagine the slick foam of the spittle bug’s home, the smooth coat of a black bear, or the coarse nubbling of bark. The very first spread presents a picture of a beaver with webbed feet and remarkably interesting claws that look like human fingernails; it appears as an inset over a full-bleed, spread-spanning photo of a beaver lodge in an autumn landscape. A few pages in, there is an equally striking shot of a bald-faced hornet and another of an army of tent caterpillars building silk. In total, the book covers 12 animals and insects and would be useful to bring along during a camping trip, a walk through a local park, or even a walk to a favorite neighborhood tree, so that children will have the opportunity to see and perhaps interact with some of the habitats of the animals around them. Four pages of backmatter encourage further engagement with the topic. Holland also carefully introduces new vocabulary to children, folding in such words as “burrow,” “drey,” and “snag” throughout, with explanations within the text. (Due to Covid complications, this book will publish in paperback on pub date and in hardcover in Jan. 2021.)
This picture book is a pleasure to read and is sure to become the favorite of some future naturalist. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64351-750-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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