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 solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world.
Dire consequences attend the unchecked melting of Arctic sea ice.
The more the ice melts, the more the Arctic climate changes. The more that air and ground temperatures rise, the more the frozen ecosystem’s inhabitants, including plants and insects, suffer from dwindling habitats; threats to food sources; and imbalances in feeding, breeding, and migration patterns. Solid information is packed into this brief work that lucidly raises the alarm for young readers, with each spread capturing the thrilling, chilling north in rich, dramatic blue swathes of seawater set off by icy glaciers and snowdrifts. Child-friendly, occasionally cluttered paintings, some with labels, highlight polar bears and their Arctic neighbors; a spread of vignettes illustrates how changes to plant life affect wildlife. One labeled spread explains all: As seawater warms, it absorbs sunlight, thus heating more water and melting more ice. One poignant spread depicts a bewildered polar bear mom, eyeing readers and flanked by her twin cubs, drifting on a shrinking ice floe. Two human children, one brown-skinned and one pale, occasionally appear in the illustrations as well. The book ends on a hopeful note, reassuring youngsters that “we still have time to save polar bears and slow the loss of Arctic ice.” A note in the backmatter offers conservation tips.
A solid addition to the climate-change canon for those interested in saving a fragile world. (author’s note, bibliography, additional sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-14319-8
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched.
An amiable introduction to our thrifty, sociable, teeming insect cousins.
Bunting notes that all the ants on Earth weigh roughly the same as all the people and observes that ants (like, supposedly, us) love recycling, helping others, and taking “micronaps.” They, too, live in groups, and their “superpower” is an ability to work together to accomplish amazing things. Bunting goes on to describe different sorts of ants within the colony (“Drone. Male. Does no housework. Takes to the sky. Reproduces. Drops dead”), how they communicate using pheromones, and how they get from egg to adult. He concludes that we could learn a lot from them that would help us leave our planet in better shape than it was when we arrived. If he takes a pass on mentioning a few less positive shared traits (such as our tendency to wage war on one another), still, his comparisons do invite young readers to observe the natural world more closely and to reflect on our connections to it. In the simple illustrations, generic black ants look up at viewers with little googly eyes while scurrying about the pages gathering food, keeping nests clean, and carrying outsized burdens.
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567784
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
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