by Michael J. Rosen ; edited by Stan Fellows ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018
Altogether a fresh and masterful contribution to the genres of both haiku and horse.
A collection of haiku with a horse theme is paired with watercolors in this picture book.
The evocative haiku are loosely organized into three groups: “In the Field,” “At the Barn,” and “In Saddle,” with an afterword by author Rosen that explains his creative intent and inspiration in drawing parallels between the horse and the haiku. Each of Rosen’s poems, in proper haiku tradition, captures a momentary impression, and the collection adds up not so much to a storyline as an evocation of place and emotion. Readers who are familiar with horses will feel the full impact, such as the horse’s steaming back when the saddle is removed, although many other haiku are just as effective for readers who must use imagination only. Illustrator Fellows’ richly rendered watercolors are the perfect match, since they too exhibit the expertise and close observation inherent in the haiku. They are done in an earthy palette of greens, blues, browns, and yellows with the occasional dab of bright blue or red, and Fellows’ use of the white paper for highlight and delineation is as masterful as it is deceptively simple. Pencil lines are unabashedly left in, as are drawn-in details that are left without color, reinforcing the illustrations’ fresh, spontaneous feel.
Altogether a fresh and masterful contribution to the genres of both haiku and horse. (Picture book/poetry. 8-14)Pub Date: March 13, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8916-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
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by Yuval Zommer ; illustrated by Yuval Zommer ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 4, 2019
Pretty but insubstantial.
Zommer surveys various bird species from around the world in this oversized (almost 14 inches tall tall) volume.
While exuberantly presented, the information is not uniformly expressed from bird to bird, which in the best cases will lead readers to seek out additional information and in the worst cases will lead to frustration. For example, on spreads that feature multiple species, the birds are not labeled. This happens again later when the author presents facts about eggs: Readers learn about camouflaged eggs, but the specific eggs are not identified, making further study extremely difficult. Other facts are misleading: A spread on “city birds” informs readers that “peregrine falcons nest on skyscrapers in New York City”—but they also nest in other large cities. In a sexist note, a peahen is identified as “unlucky” because she “has drab brown feathers” instead of flashy ones like the peacock’s. Illustrations are colorful and mostly identifiable but stylized; Zommer depicts his birds with both eyes visible at all times, even when the bird is in profile. The primary audience for the book appears to be British, as some spreads focus on European birds over their North American counterparts, such as the mute swan versus the trumpeter swan and the European robin versus the American robin. The backmatter, a seven-word glossary and an index, doesn’t provide readers with much support.
Pretty but insubstantial. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65151-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
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by Amy Stewart ; illustrated by Briony Morrow-Cribbs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 2017
Entomophobes will find all of this horrifyingly informative.
This junior edition of Stewart’s lurid 2011 portrait gallery of the same name (though much less gleeful subtitle) loses none of its capacity for leaving readers squicked-out.
The author drops a few entries, notably the one on insect sexual practices, and rearranges toned-down versions of the rest into roughly topical sections. Beginning with the same cogent observation—“We are seriously outnumbered”—she follows general practice in thrillers of this ilk by defining “bug” broadly enough to include all-too-detailed descriptions of the life cycles and revolting or deadly effects of scorpions and spiders, ticks, lice, and, in a chapter evocatively titled “The Enemy Within,” such internal guests as guinea worms and tapeworms. Mosquitoes, bedbugs, the ubiquitous “Filth Fly,” and like usual suspects mingle with more-exotic threats, from the tongue-eating louse and a “yak-killer hornet” (just imagine) to the aggressive screw-worm fly that, in one cited case, flew up a man’s nose and laid hundreds of eggs…that…hatched. Morrow-Cribbs’ close-up full-color drawings don’t offer the visceral thrills of the photos in, for instance, Rebecca L. Johnson’s Zombie Makers (2012) but are accurate and finely detailed enough to please even the fussiest young entomologists.
Entomophobes will find all of this horrifyingly informative. (index, glossary, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61620-755-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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