A party to remember—and a species to respect.
Get to know the crocodilian family—crocodiles, alligators and caimans, and gharials—at an eventful birthday party.
Eaton (The Truth About Elephants, 2018, etc.) continues his series of tongue-in-cheek introductions to iconic animal species with facts and fancies about these toothy reptiles. Cartoon illustrations feature talking animals (mainly white-coated scientist turtles) and the brown-skinned human birthday girl. Text is presented in speech bubbles, callout boxes, and a simple informational narrative. Facts and exaggerated fiction mingle in both words and pictures. Young readers, listeners, and even adults will enjoy the humor and the curious infobits presented along with the usual important topics: distinguishing among the major groups and describing where crocs live around the world, their reptile characteristics, customary habitat and behavior, feeding, child-rearing, ways to avoid the threat they pose to humans, and the threats they face from humans. The illustrations are lively. On the title page, three crocs speed down a waterway in an Everglades-style airboat. An early spread shows an Australian freshwater crocodile floating underwater, with ears, eyes, and nostrils above. Its “powerful tail for swimming” is highlighted. The tail returns, later, when “The croc, powered by its muscular tail, bursts out of the water with its jaws open” to demolish a piñata at the birthday party. Repetition, humor, and surprise help cement the learning.
A party to remember—and a species to respect. (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-19844-0
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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