Engaging, exhaustive, and (for grown-ups) slightly exhausting.
Meet a plethora of fascinating fauna, fancifully sorted by distinguishing physical characteristics.
This whimsical foray into alternative taxonomy will introduce children to an enormous assortment of strange and startling beasts, fish, and fowl and induce eyestrain and fatigue in many doting caregivers. “Animals come in all shapes and sizes,” informs the text, adding that “most of the time, they are grouped into big families, like all the birds together and all the fish together. But there are other ways you can group them—like those with big noses and those who have antlers!” Extensive double-page groupings of creatures follow: “Enormous Eyes,” “Nice Noses,” “Excellent Ears,” “Terrific Tails,” “Dreaded Defenses,” “Huge Horns,” etc. With 11 categories of anatomical adaptations illustrated with roughly 27 different species per physical trait, there are nearly 300 weird and wonderful animals presented in this book. One animal in each set also features the characteristic that defines the subsequent group. The stylized but recognizable creatures are arranged, in varied size and proportion, on saturated, monochromatic backgrounds, each animal lovingly labelled in painstakingly neat yet vexingly tiny print. Dark letters on dark backgrounds prove especially difficult. A child who can remember the animals’ names or who reads independently can and will spend hours revisiting every animal in the book. Caregivers, especially the visually challenged, might be forgiven if they lack the endurance to name every beast at a sitting.
Engaging, exhaustive, and (for grown-ups) slightly exhausting. (Board book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1043-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Big Picture/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A good choice for a late fall storytime.
Animal behaviors change as they prepare to face the winter.
Migrate, hibernate, or tolerate. With smooth rhymes and jaunty illustrations, Salas and Gévry introduce three strategies animals use for coping with winter cold. The author’s long experience in imparting information to young readers is evident in her selection of familiar animals and in her presentation. Spread by spread she introduces her examples, preparing in fall and surviving in winter. She describes two types of migration: Hummingbirds and monarchs fly, and blue whales travel to the warmth of the south; earthworms burrow deeper into the earth. Without using technical words, she introduces four forms of hibernation—chipmunks nap and snack; bears mainly sleep; Northern wood frogs become an “icy pop,” frozen until spring; and normally solitary garter snakes snuggle together in huge masses. Those who can tolerate the winter still change behavior. Mice store food and travel in tunnels under the snow; moose grow a warmer kind of fur; the red fox dives into the snow to catch small mammals (like those mice); and humans put on warm clothes and play. The animals in the soft pastel illustrations are recognizable, more cuddly than realistic, and quite appealing; their habitats are stylized. The humans represent varied ethnicities. Each page includes two levels of text, and there’s further information in the extensive backmatter. Pair with Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen’s Winter Bees (2014).
A good choice for a late fall storytime. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2900-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard.
Rotner follows Hello Spring (2017) with this salute to the fall season.
Name a change seen in northern climes in fall, and Rotner likely covers it here, from plants, trees, and animals to the food we harvest: seeds are spread, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves change and fall (and are raked up and jumped in), some animals migrate, and many families celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. As in the previous book, the photographs (presented in a variety of sizes and layouts, all clean) are the stars here, displaying both the myriad changes of the season and a multicultural array of children enjoying the outdoors in fall. These are set against white backgrounds that make the reddish-orange print pop. The text itself uses short sentences and some solid vocabulary (though “deep sleep” is used instead of “hibernate”) to teach readers the markers of autumn, though in the quest for simplicity, Rotner sacrifices some truth. In several cases, the addition of just a few words would have made the following oversimplified statements reflect reality: “Birds grow more feathers”; “Cranberries float and turn red.” Also, Rotner includes the statement “Bees store extra honey in their hives” on a page about animals going into deep sleep, implying that honeybees hibernate, which is false.
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3869-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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