A hot topic receives a tepid treatment.
Using threats to endangered Bengal tigers’ survival as a springboard, Wells teaches young readers about the many ways humans interfere with the natural world and its biodiversity.
Opening with a Bengal tigress and her cubs, Wells introduces into the mix a langur monkey that stops the tigress from walking into a poacher’s trap. The anthropomorphized quartet (the tiger plants a big kiss on the monkey's cheek—yeah, right) then travel through the book together, teaching readers about habitat destruction, pollution, overharvesting, invasive species, biodiversity and extinction. Words are defined in the text, in a glossary or in glaring yellow “Learning Circle[s]” that also sometimes provide factoids, but while many of the glossary words are all in caps, there are other words that also appear this way that are not defined in the back. Also, while the more scientific terminology is defined, other vocabulary is not as audience-friendly: excessive, sensitive, vegetation, profit, livestock, disrupted, emit, incurable. Not as strong as its predecessors in the Wells of Knowledge Science series, this is not as well-written or -designed—the text is scattered across the spreads and often justified or otherwise confusingly spaced, making it difficult to follow. Too, there are a few pages that are vertically oriented. The pen-and-acrylic illustrations nicely convey the concepts using a mix of timelines, flowcharts and artwork, but the fact/fiction blend jars.
A hot topic receives a tepid treatment. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8075-1055-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy.
Robo-parents Diode and Lugnut present daughter Cathode with a new little brother—who requires, unfortunately, some assembly.
Arriving in pieces from some mechanistic version of Ikea, little Flange turns out to be a cute but complicated tyke who immediately falls apart…and then rockets uncontrollably about the room after an overconfident uncle tinkers with his basic design. As a squad of helpline techies and bevies of neighbors bearing sludge cake and like treats roll in, the cluttered and increasingly crowded scene deteriorates into madcap chaos—until at last Cath, with help from Roomba-like robodog Sprocket, stages an intervention by whisking the hapless new arrival off to a backyard workshop for a proper assembly and software update. “You’re such a good big sister!” warbles her frazzled mom. Wiesner’s robots display his characteristic clean lines and even hues but endearingly look like vaguely anthropomorphic piles of random jet-engine parts and old vacuum cleaners loosely connected by joints of armored cable. They roll hither and thither through neatly squared-off panels and pages in infectiously comical dismay. Even the end’s domestic tranquility lasts only until Cathode spots the little box buried in the bigger one’s packing material: “TWINS!” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 52% of actual size.)
A retro-futuristic romp, literally and figuratively screwy. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-544-98731-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
A delightful story of a cross-racial friendship between two kids who realize how much they need each other and the passions...
STEM becomes STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) as Melia, an inventor, and Jo, a dancer, discover that they’re a dynamic team.
Melia loves to invent things and tinker all day long in her backyard. Then Jo moves in next door and dances her way into Melia’s inventing space. With total disregard for the sanctity of Melia’s creations, Jo flips Melia’s cereal-bowl radio onto her head to wear it as a hat, sticks a rope of black licorice into the neck of an unfinished robot, and chucks a paper airplane—that Melia is still designing—into the air. Although she’s miffed at Jo’s invasion of her space, Melia realizes that Jo has inadvertently solved some puzzling conundrums. When Melia shows Jo what a difference she has made, Jo refuses to partner with Melia…until one of Melia’s inventions saves her. Their contrasting personalities are effectively delineated in the retro-styled illustrations: Brown-skinned Jo wears a pinky-purple tutu, a pearl necklace, and feathers in her hair; blonde-haired, peachy-skinned Melia wears shorts and an orange cape and boots. The backmatter provides instructions for how to make Melia’s paper airplane and explains the benefits of turning STEM into STEAM.
A delightful story of a cross-racial friendship between two kids who realize how much they need each other and the passions that each brings to the friendship. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-328-91626-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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