“Within every ecosystem, each plant and animal is designed to serve a specific purpose in God's creation.” While this...
From Lake Michigan’s dunes through transition forests to the boreal forests and wetlands in the region’s north, a television host introduces inhabitants of three Great Lakes ecosystems from an intelligent-design perspective.
“Within every ecosystem, each plant and animal is designed to serve a specific purpose in God's creation.” While this proposition is not accepted by the great majority of scientists, it is repeatedly put forth, through examples and Biblical quotations, in this appreciation of the Great Lakes’ natural world. Schriemer defines his terms, introduces "HOMES" as a mnemonic to remember the five lake names and provides a map showing Michigan at their heart. He then introduces each ecosystem, with examples of characteristic animals and a plant for each. Each creature has a page with an explanation of its name, a short description of its appearance and behavior, a “crazy cool fact” and several color photographs. The images are not large, and a few are difficult to see—as are the animals themselves—but most will give young readers a good idea of what to look for. A DVD (not seen) is packaged with books in this series, which also includes the less well-written Ocean Adventures, about habitats of Hawaii. There are no sources or index in either book.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-310-72142-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here.
Kids teach a valuable lesson about community spirit.
A city block is ablaze with red and green lights for Christmas; one house glows blue and white for Hanukkah. This is where Isaac, a Jewish boy, lives, across the street from best friend Teresa, excitedly preparing for Christmas. They love lighting up their homes in holiday colors. After an antisemitic bigot smashes a window in Isaac’s house, Isaac relights the menorah the next night, knowing if his family doesn’t, it means hiding their Jewishness, which doesn’t “feel right.” Artistic Teresa supports Isaac by drawing a menorah, inscribed to her friend, and placing the picture in her window. What occurs subsequently is a remarkable demonstration of community solidarity for Isaac and his family from everyone, including the media. Galvanized into defiant action against hate, thousands of townspeople display menorahs in windows in residences and public buildings. This quiet, uplifting tale is inspired by an incident that occurred in Billings, Montana, in 1993. Readers will feel heartened at children’s power to influence others to stand up for justice and defeat vile prejudice. The colorful illustrations, rendered digitally with brushes of the artist’s devising, resemble scratch art. Isaac and Teresa are White, and there is some racial diversity among the townspeople; one child is depicted in a wheelchair. An author’s note provides information about the actual event.
The true meaning of the holiday season shines here. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64614-087-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Skip.
Jesus pops up.
“It had been three days since Jesus died on a cross, and his friends were sad.” So Traini (The Life of Martin Luther, 2017) opens his ingenuously retold version of the first Easter. Beginning with two unnamed women clambering down a rocky hill to the graveyard, each of the seven tableaux features human figures with oversized eyes, light brown skin, and solemn or awed expressions posing in a sparsely decorated setting. The women hurry off at the behest of the angel lounging casually in a tomb bedecked with large crystals and fossil seashells to inform the “other disciples” of what’s happened. Along the way the women meet Jesus himself (“Greetings, my friends!”), who goes on to urge disciples “hiding inside a locked room” to touch his discreetly wounded hands. He later shares breakfast (“fish, of course!”) with Peter and others, then ascends from a mountaintop to heaven. Though the 3-D art and the flashes of irreverence set this sketchy rendition of the story apart from more conventional versions, the significance of the event never really comes clear…nor can it match for depth of feeling the stately likes of Jan Pienkowski’s Easter (1983). In the final scene Pentecostal flames appear over the heads of the disciples, leaving them endowed with the gift of tongues and eager to spread the “good news about Jesus!”
Skip. (Pop-up picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5064-3340-0
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Sparkhouse
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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