A recycled storyline without enough twists to feel new.
A young Earth-Bot wakes up to ocean plastic pollution.
Neo and his grandfather, both Earth-Bots, live at the ocean’s edge. Both have round, cartoon faces and matter-of-factly wear spacesuit helmets throughout. Grandpa instructs Neo to clean his plastic-infested room, but Neo fixates on video games. After Grandpa heads out for the day, Neo’s blissful gaming session is repeatedly interrupted. First a seal and later a penguin and a turtle implore Neo to help clean up the plastic pollution in the neighboring ocean. Neo initially insists he is too busy protecting the planet within his video game, but eventually he helps the animals. Spare illustrations are placed on blue or white backgrounds, with thin black outlines around characters and objects. A neat grid of plastic bottles outlined in white overlays ocean scenes, demonstrating the problem’s scale. However, the illustrations’ minimalism works against the story’s overall effectiveness; when Neo is confronted by the ocean’s mess, his facial expression doesn’t noticeably signal alarm. Neo’s video game strategies come in handy when he assesses that the plastic-pollution issue cannot be solved by one person alone, a detail that saves the story from a video games–are-negative binary but not from a sense that it’s basically treading water. A concluding note promotes personal actions with an emphasis on reducing initial plastics consumption instead of leaning on recycling as a single solution. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A recycled storyline without enough twists to feel new. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0538-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Unusual illustrations enhance an engaging, informative narrative.
What can a worm do?
A little worm sets off on a “twirl” to “see the world.” But when it overhears a human referring to it as “just a worm,” its feelings are hurt. The worm asks other critters—including a caterpillar, a spider, a dragonfly—what they can do. After each answer (turn into a butterfly, spin silk thread, fly), the worm becomes more and more dejected because it can’t do any of these things. “Maybe I am just a worm.” But then the worm encounters a ladybug, who eats aphids and other insects, and the worm realizes that it eats dead plants and animals and keeps gardens clean. And though the worm can’t pollinate like the bee, it does create castings (poop) that help plants grow and stay healthy. These abilities, the worm realizes in triumph, are important! The cleverness of this story lies in its lighthearted, effective dissemination of information about various insects as well as earthworms. It doesn’t hurt that the expressive little worm is downright adorable, with emotions that will resonate with anyone who has felt unimportant. The stunning illustrations are done in quilled paper—a centuries-old technique that involves assembling strips of colored paper into shapes—which adds sparkle and originality. A tutorial of how to make a quilled butterfly and a page on earthworm facts round out the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Unusual illustrations enhance an engaging, informative narrative. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-321256-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
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