A well-focused, beautiful, and informative introduction to the arboreal world.
How do trees grow?
The team that produced Plants Can’t Sit Still (2016) uses the same winning formula of a few well-chosen words and appealing images to describe how trees can become the “tallest living thing” on Earth. Hirsch’s poetic text starts at the beginning, with seeds and sprouts, going on to describe how young trees use sunlight to feed themselves, take in water from the ground and carbon dioxide from the air, and return oxygen and water to the air. As trees grow taller, their roots grow wider, “intertwine with the roots of their neighbors...and help hold the tree up.” Seeds fall, and the cycle begins again. This sequence is splendidly illustrated with Posada’s textured, stylized, though accurate cut-paper collages and watercolors, each spread showing a different stage. One spread must be turned sideways, emphasizing the incredible height of some trees. The backmatter explains the process in more detail, introducing relevant vocabulary and answering some anticipated questions. There are also photographs of some of the world’s tallest tree species and a map showing where they can be found. With graceful, easy-to-read-aloud text and illustrations that would show well to a group, this would be a welcome addition to a nature-themed storytime. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A well-focused, beautiful, and informative introduction to the arboreal world. (activities, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781728440873
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stilted, if worthy, celebration desperately in need of better writing and art.
An appreciation of our planet as a protective and nurturing “big house.”
“We all live together in harmony on the land,” writes Lee with rather more lyricism than strict accuracy. The author then goes on to tally our planet’s range of climates and environments, trace the water cycle, describe the atmosphere, and explain why we have seasons. Translation (uncredited) issues aren’t all that hobble this Korean import, but such lines as “On Earth, many things always happen,” and “The air traps the hot solar heat” likely read better in the original. More problematically, the illustrator represents humanity with a crudely drawn, pale-skinned child with dark hair and clownishly heavy red lips; the generic settings teem with equally generic flora and smiling fauna. Also, the schematic view of Earth’s orbit around the sun is hard to parse, as it lacks directional arrows or (aside from a confusingly stylized deciduous tree) seasonal labels. The author restates the “harmony” theme, then closes with “Thank you, Earth!”
A stilted, if worthy, celebration desperately in need of better writing and art. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-22-0
Page Count: 30
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
It’s rare to recommend television over a book, but in this case, stick with How It’s Made. For gratitude for nature choose...
Three young children explore the “gifts” from nature used to make items from glass and salt to cotton and cheese.
Each double-page spread shows the three children—all light-skinned though with vastly different hairstyles: a black topknot on the only one whose gender is not ambiguous, dark-brown pageboy, and dark-brown, curly Afro—enjoying the out-of-doors, and an accompanying verse introduces one of Earth’s habitats: “What fills the vast blue ocean? Dancing splashes of water! / The ocean is a pool where the fish swim, / and a playground where the birds play.” Right-hand pages open in full gatefolds to show the process associated with each “gift”; in this case, how salt is made. Vignettes show actual equipment, with the children doing the work (with two exceptions). Na emphasizes throughout the ideas of gifts and thankfulness for them, whether they are cultivated by human hands or not: “Soybeans give us tofu. / Savory, tasty tofu. / Tofu is a gift from soybeans that we are thankful for.” But the language is rather stilted and didactic. Plus, Na at times oversimplifies: “Wet soil is flattened to make clay.” Jung’s watercolor illustrations are a delight of tiny details and wonderful, childlike expressions and actions—one child’s face is smooshed against a pane of glass.
It’s rare to recommend television over a book, but in this case, stick with How It’s Made. For gratitude for nature choose Thank You, Bees (2017) by Toni Yuly. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-939248-21-3
Page Count: 36
Publisher: TanTan
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
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