A proboscis-in-cheek introduction to butterflies that will appeal to reluctant readers and bug enthusiasts alike.
A witty look at the less-beautiful characteristics of butterflies.
As this informational book opens, a big-eyed monarch-butterfly narrator flits and flutters with its beautiful friends. Then, in metafictive fashion, it warns readers that if they want to continue believing that pretty is the essence of butterflies, “DON’T TURN THE PAGE.” Of course, curious readers will keep going! The narrator reveals the truth: “Some butterflies are gross.” Readers peer through the narrator’s binoculars as it describes in pithy text such shocking sights as butterflies slurping up dead-animal juices and offers additional undesirable adjectives, like “drab” butterflies that resemble dull leaves, an adaptation that confuses hungry birds. Comical illustrations that feature patterns and earth tones highlight the humor. But wait, there’s more, as the narrator warns once again: “OK, prepare to get weirded out.” It starts up an old-fashioned movie projector, and as it uses such monstrous terms as shape-shifters and carnivorous, it explains and shows scenes of metamorphosis, caterpillars’ diets, and more. Finally, the narrator takes readers into a top-secret lab and reveals images of butterflies tasting with their feet, eating poop, and drinking tears—and some that “have butts that look like heads.” A concluding chart depicts thumbnails of featured butterflies, further related facts, and their geographic range. All in all, it’s a fun addition—or alternative—to traditional insect study. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A proboscis-in-cheek introduction to butterflies that will appeal to reluctant readers and bug enthusiasts alike. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6592-9
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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