A solid addition to the series and a great compare/contrast exercise for classrooms.
Following Animal Noses (2018), Holland’s latest looks at the various coverings for animals’ skin.
Hair, feathers, and scales may look different one to the other, but they serve largely the same purposes: camouflage, protection from predators and the weather, warnings to keep away, and aids to attracting a mate. Spots on a moth’s wings that look like eyes fool predators. A skunk’s black-and-white pattern acts as a warning. Fawns’ white spots help camouflage them, and a bird’s feathers trap air, helping the animal stay warm. Holland also looks at insects; their exoskeletons cannot grow. Instead, they grow a new skin under the old one and then shed the one that’s too small. Snakes do the same. (Holland missteps a bit with her statement that “If you look closely at a shed snake skin you can see the scales.” Those are not the actual scales but are made of something similar—keratin, which is in our nails and hair.) As in the whole Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series, the close-ups of the creatures are the big draw. Highlights are the frog peeking out of the water and the close-up of a fluffed-up bluejay amid falling snow. Backmatter includes some matching activities and more information.
A solid addition to the series and a great compare/contrast exercise for classrooms. (Nonfiction. 3-9)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64351-339-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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