Lovely to browse through but not likely to linger in a child’s mind or last in circulation.
Peek through fish-shaped holes to see ocean inhabitants.
In the latest in her series of titles using die cuts that began with Tree (2016), German artist Teckentrup explores a “secret world” underwater. Stylized images of tropical fish, grasses, sponges, and more are arrayed in colorful scenes. Peek-through holes reveal creatures yet to come. Hegarty’s text consists of rhyming couplets forced into an awkward narrative describing what’s depicted, starting with a coral reef’s inhabitants: small fish, sea horses, dolphins, a lionfish. Under the threat of a great white shark, a squid squirts ink, a puffer fish puffs up, and smaller fish scatter and swarm into a fish-shaped school. Then night falls, and “Jellyfish, eels, and manta rays / Dance and bob in bright displays.” Finally, the fish hear a humpback whale and encounter a manatee and her babies “in an ocean meadow.” Returning to the reef world, the writer encourages readers to protect the environment. While the images are intriguing to look at, the pages, though of heavy stock, are not likely to stand up to repeated peeks and pokes, and the depiction of the ocean world is more fancy than fact, conflating wildly different ocean niches and anthropomorphizing the fish who stop to listen to the whale’s song.
Lovely to browse through but not likely to linger in a child’s mind or last in circulation. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-64720-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
Lovely, if a bit frustrating.
The double meaning of the title of this French import will likely be lost on young readers who do not know that “plume” means “feather,” since “Plume” is the name of the black cat who stalks mysteriously through the pages, clearly with evil designs on the birds portrayed.
As with her earlier picture book Blue Hour (2017), Simler portrays her subject matter—birds and their feathers—in finely rendered, realistic detail. However, the birds chosen are not always specifically named, and many species are not found in North America, lessening the book’s appeal for readers on this continent. For example, the nuthatch, jay, and kingfisher featured in the book are Eurasian species, so there is little chance of a child in the U.S. finding one of these feathers or being able to identify them. A gull is simply identified as “Seagull,” likewise for the highly stylized owl; the “Eagle” is clearly a bald eagle. The attractiveness of the illustrations compensates in large part for these flaws. The black cat’s presence is charmingly hinted at in each illustration, sometimes just as an ear, a tail, or a whisker peeking from the edge of the spread, sometimes almost hidden behind the bird. On the last spread, Plume is completely visible, clutching a feather and saying innocently, “Oh…me? / I collect feathers… //…because I love overstuffed pillows. / I am a dreamer cat. / They call me Plume.”
Lovely, if a bit frustrating. (Picture book. 2-5)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5492-6
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
There are better fish in the board-book sea.
Dramatic stock photos and die-cut tabs are the distinguishing features of this board book.
“Did you know that there are over 400 types of sharks?” is an intriguing opening, but readers primed to find out about those specific types may be surprised that the shark on the facing page is not identified. Instead, the picture of a shark above a school of fish gives a sense of its size. Smaller text explains that shark skeletons are made of cartilage, not bone. Layered die cuts that accentuate the nose and mouth of nine different sharks on the right-hand pages invite children to turn the pages quickly. White type printed against various contrasting colors on the left-hand pages offers tidbits of information but is unlikely to make young children pause long enough to be read the text. A picture of almost 40 sharks swimming together seems to contradict the accompanying explanation that many sharks are endangered. A final full-color spread speaks of sharks’ important role in maintaining ocean balance and includes a picture of a grandfatherly shark scientist. The back cover is devoted to information for adults. While intriguing and scientifically credible, the wordy text and seemingly arbitrary factoids are well beyond the attention spans of all but the most avid young fans of the species.
There are better fish in the board-book sea. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2128-8
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
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