A creature feature presented, and likely to be devoured, with relish.
A rousing roundup of outsized meat eaters for readers who, like the author, find Tyrannosaurus rex and cousin dinos “overexposed and overrated.”
Looking like modern creatures, only much bigger, the extinct predators Stewart selects run from a 28-inch prehistoric scorpion to “railroad car”–sized protoshark Megalodon.A slavering “giant ripper lizard” (Varanus prisca) on the cover sets the tone, and as Gray goes on to depict beaked or toothy horrors chasing or snatching prey, the author makes up for the lack of explicit gore with commentary that suggestively goes for the gusto: “Dive! Swish! Chomp! Gulp! Meet the Sanders seabird—a prehistoric predator guaranteed to make fish fret and squid squirm.” Each sharply detailed portrait comes with a fact box and, entertainingly, a silhouette with a to-scale human figure flinching, cowering, or fleeing in terror. In a closing twist, the final entry, the “biggest predator of all time,” is the nonextinct blue whale (“makes T. rex look like a puny pipsqueak”); for added value, along with a source list and an audience-appropriate selection of further reading, the author and illustrator both end with helpful notes on their research methods. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A creature feature presented, and likely to be devoured, with relish. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68263-109-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world.
Dire consequences attend the unchecked melting of Arctic sea ice.
The more the ice melts, the more the Arctic climate changes. The more that air and ground temperatures rise, the more the frozen ecosystem’s inhabitants, including plants and insects, suffer from dwindling habitats; threats to food sources; and imbalances in feeding, breeding, and migration patterns. Solid information is packed into this brief work that lucidly raises the alarm for young readers, with each spread capturing the thrilling, chilling north in rich, dramatic blue swathes of seawater set off by icy glaciers and snowdrifts. Child-friendly, occasionally cluttered paintings, some with labels, highlight polar bears and their Arctic neighbors; a spread of vignettes illustrates how changes to plant life affect wildlife. One labeled spread explains all: As seawater warms, it absorbs sunlight, thus heating more water and melting more ice. One poignant spread depicts a bewildered polar bear mom, eyeing readers and flanked by her twin cubs, drifting on a shrinking ice floe. Two human children, one brown-skinned and one pale, occasionally appear in the illustrations as well. The book ends on a hopeful note, reassuring youngsters that “we still have time to save polar bears and slow the loss of Arctic ice.” A note in the backmatter offers conservation tips.
A solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world. (author’s note, bibliography, additional sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-14319-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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