An attractive (in both senses) early foray into the wild world.
Budding naturalists can place 45 animals with magnetic backings on any of five double-page habitats.
Visible through a large hole cut into the front cover, the animals come out of a reusable storage pocket inside and are both identified and arranged into related groups at the back. In between, readers find polar, savanna, coral-reef, temperate-forest, and rainforest scenes with several creatures in view. Brief observations that serve as prompts (“Look! A wild boar is taking her young to look for mushrooms”) offer plenty of space to arrange and rearrange the magnetized additions. The overall look is bright and benign. Aside from a mention that forest animals eat “berries, bugs, and small creatures” and one glimpse of a friendly-looking cheetah loping unthreateningly after an antelope, there is no reference to predation anywhere, and all of Tisserand’s wildlife, even birds and fish, are smiling. They are, however, small enough to make the choke-hazard warning on the back cover cogent. Though a good shake may well send them flying, the creatures are magnetic enough to stay in place when the book is held up or laid on a tilted surface. They will stick to a refrigerator too, though not firmly enough to hold anything. There are no human figures in the art.
An attractive (in both senses) early foray into the wild world. (Novelty. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 979-1-02760-998-7
Page Count: 12
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy, if somewhat forced, venture into multidisciplinary teaching for very young children that may require caregivers to...
A generic mother bird learns to conquer the forces of physics while going about her daily chores.
In an unusual take on the well-worn topic of birds and their nests, the common activities associated with feeding and nest-building are used to teach the science of force and gravity, albeit at a very elementary level. The preface encourages caregivers to discuss the law of motion, stating that “More force is needed to change the motion of heavier objects than to change the motion of lighter objects.” (Caregivers may find themselves searching for other words to make this clear to youngsters.) Furthermore, “Earth’s gravity pulls objects towards the Earth, which makes things fall down when they are dropped.” Aspects of these principles are illustrated with somewhat dated-looking mixed-media pictures in a muddy color palette as the bird pulls worms out of the ground; struggles to find twigs light enough to carry; creates a nest with twigs, feathers, and grass; and finally lays five speckled eggs, out of which hatch baby birds. Five questions again address the physics illustrated in the story, asking about pushing, pulling, moving, and dropping.
A worthy, if somewhat forced, venture into multidisciplinary teaching for very young children that may require caregivers to do some heavy lifting of their own. (index) (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9346-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!”...
A wildlife photographer follows up Whose Butt? (2012) with a fresh portfolio of posteriors.
Showing no traces of fecal matter and only rarely even a glimpse of bare skin, the fuzzy or feathery fundaments on view belong to young creatures ranging from moose to mustang, cottontail to sandhill crane—all photographed in outdoor settings and all followed by longer-shot views of the whole animal, usually with a parent. The accompanying hints and nature notes are informative, if cutesy (“HANG ON! Baby opossums can hang by their tails, but as they grow, they become too heavy for upside-down fun”). In a more businesslike listing at the end, the author adds further comments about diet, range, and behavior for each, along with smaller headshots. Though any mention or image of “butts” will reliably get a rise from young audiences, overall this is more about baby animals in general than a specific portion of their anatomy.
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!” (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-59193-783-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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