An amazing organ presented with amazing clarity.
In praise of gray matter.
Two smiling brown-skinned youngsters, accompanied by a cheerful cat and dog, gleefully announce their many abilities. They can run, jump, throw, read, draw, talk, play drums, and gaze up at the stars—all due, ultimately, to the brain. The kids walk us through the spinal cord and nerves before taking us up to the brain, that “gray sponge” that allows us to answer such crucial questions as “Do we want pizza or tacos?” and “Where is our cat Fluffy?” The youngsters consider the cerebrum’s four lobes, each of which does an important job, as well as the brain stem, the cerebellum, the pituitary gland, and the hypothalamus. Clearly, the kids demonstrate, without a brain we wouldn’t enjoy much of life. The writing is direct and simple enough to be understood by its target audience without sacrificing accuracy. A glossary neatly summarizes the information laid out earlier. Yes, occipital and parietal will be challenging words, but the functions they oversee are explained well: “You see the soccer goal because of your occipital lobe.” “You run to where you’re supposed to be thanks to the parietal lobe.” The clear, attractive art is integral to the book: The children do kid things, and the pets frolic, while images in bright, varied colors bridge science and art, and brain diagrams beautifully illustrate the intricacies of the brain.
An amazing organ presented with amazing clarity. (Informational early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: April 21, 2026
ISBN: 9780823457908
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2026
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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