Not particularly systematic, but young dog lovers will wolf it down.
Bits and bites about our canine co-dependents, from lore to behavior, breeds, and care.
Loosely following a Q&A format, zoologist Crumpton scatters blocks of pithy comments about why dogs do what they do on broadly thematic spreads amid winsome painted portraits by Snowden-Fine of diverse official breeds, mostly drawn to scale, at work or play. Along with explaining what the titular sniffing as well as tail-wagging and yelps (“a canine version of texting”) communicate, the author introduces famous dogs from Cerberus and Rin Tin Tin to internet celebrity Boo the Pomeranian, tucks in perfunctory notes on proper diet and care, and mentions dozens of breeds. Most of these are depicted nearby, though sometimes in distant or indistinct views. Readers with vision issues will also struggle with passages of narrative that are printed on dark green or other low-contrast backdrops. Sometimes Crumpton rambles, as when he follows up “Why does dog poop smell so bad?” with three feces-related factoids (including the importance of scooping) before answering, kind of. Andy Hirsch’s entry in the graphic Science Comics series, Dogs: From Predator to Protector (2017), digs deeper into the topic, but this once-over has plenty to chew on. Occasional human figures in the art display a range of skin color and style of dress.
Not particularly systematic, but young dog lovers will wolf it down. (glossary, index of breeds) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-500-65223-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An affectionate picture of bears and bear scientists, capped with a page of moon bear facts and an afterword.
Not one but three roly-poly moon bear cubs star in this true animal rescue tale.
Orphaned by poachers, Yasha, joined later by Shum and Shiksha, are nurtured by Pokrovskaya and another scientist for nearly two years on a game preserve until they were ready to be released into the Siberian wild. Taking a slightly anthropomorphized bear’s-eye point of view (“Yasha was happy with his new home”), Kvatum chronicles the cubs’ development as they learn to forage on their own while playing together and learning to climb trees. She also notes how important it is for human observers to remain aloof—minimizing physical contact and even wearing scent-concealing clothing—to prevent the animals from becoming dependent or domesticated. Looking positively fetching in the big, color photos, shaggy Yasha and his ursine cohorts grow visibly as they ramble through woodsy settings, splash in a river and survive an encounter with a prowling tiger before being deemed ready to live on their own.
An affectionate picture of bears and bear scientists, capped with a page of moon bear facts and an afterword. (map, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1051-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
Young makers will find the Scrap Pack’s enthusiasm infectious, but even as broad overviews, these offer at best incomplete...
A mouse, a bird, and a junkyard frog assemble a car from the ground up—cluing in readers who may be a bit vague on what’s beneath all those hoods…or at least what used to be.
Enlisting his green buddy Hank to supply the parts and feathered Phoebe to draw up the plans, Eli, “king of crazy ideas,” sees his latest project grow from a frame and some miscellaneous loose parts to a nifty blue convertible with a classic 1950s look. At each stage, Sodomka supplies clearly drawn angled or cutaway views with dozens of major components labeled, from “steering knuckle bracket” to “tie rod” and “ball joint.” The gas tank is labeled but seems to be missing, though, and readers who want to know what a “differential” actually does or the purpose of the “indicator switch” are out of luck. Lacey’s claim that an engine “is like the brain of the car” doesn’t bear close examination, either. Moreover, the finished auto isn’t much like most modern cars, as it has no electronic elements, for instance, and is powered by a three-cylinder engine (misleadingly billed as “regular”) quaintly fed by a long-obsolescent carburetor. With an auto under their belts (and with similar oversimplification), Eli’s “Scrap Pack” goes on to an even more ambitious enterprise in How to Build a Plane. In both volumes, closer looks at selected systems or related topics follow the storyline’s happy conclusion, and each broad trial-and-error step in the construction is recapped at the end.
Young makers will find the Scrap Pack’s enthusiasm infectious, but even as broad overviews, these offer at best incomplete pictures. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-63322-041-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Quarto
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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