Wonderful.
A collection of international animals is concealed in a series of complex pictures. Search and find!
Hutchinson proposes taking readers on a trip around the world. He separates the Earth into seven regions. For each, there is first an overview of the topography and climate as well as short descriptions of the many animals indigenous to the region. Then, a double-page spread features a pair of challenges. On the left (taking up about one-quarter of the area), several animals are depicted clearly against white space. A wide, striking, and complex monochromatic cut-paper illustration of a typical habitat fills the rest, dizzying readers with the interaction between negative and positive space. Readers are challenged to find both animals from the left sidebar and additional ones according to specific directions. The African animals feature some with horns. Some of the Asian animals use their front legs like arms. Europe boasts a wide variety of birds. Many animals in the polar regions lay eggs. A lot of the animals in South America are denizens of the rain forest. The duck-billed platypus is not the only “Australasian” animal with a bill. A final page includes a fun fact about each of the seven regions (one is that there are 61 Australasian animals with bills). Hutchinson succeeds beautifully in making learning fun. Dennis’ distinctive cut-paper illustrations are suitable for framing and intricate enough to reward repeat viewing. Each of the seven regions is depicted in a different color.
Wonderful. (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61689-626-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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
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