A humorous story of the importance of seeing past first impressions.
A family of Mongolian death worms attempts to right their reputation.
Mongolian death worms are notoriously “the most terrifying and deadly creatures.” Legend has it they are even poisonous and capable of releasing electric shocks in dry atmospheres. With their pointy teeth and unsettling mouths, which appear perpetually open and drip with green drool, a family of four death worms brainstorms ideas in an effort to improve their unfortunate optics and change the minds and hearts of their Gobi Desert–dwelling neighbors. Maybe name tags or snazzy outfits will appear welcoming. And everyone loves cupcakes, right? Each attempt to impress the neighbors fails, but when a natural disaster strikes, their inherent skills as Mongolian death worms prove heroic. Fay’s story of a hopeful family of unsightly death worms addresses common themes, including the battling of preconceived notions and accepting others. The worms, with their googly eyes and expressive faces, communicate in short quips via comics-style speech bubbles, enhancing the book’s lighthearted tone. The illustrations, produced with potato prints and watercolors, depict the death worms in textured pinks (with lime-green drool), juxtaposed against the neutral palette of the desert setting and the cool tones of the other animals who live there. Brief backmatter with source notes gives readers some context for the legend of the Mongolian death worm and notes scientific debate about the creatures’ existence. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A humorous story of the importance of seeing past first impressions. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77608-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
Even the most bee-phobic readers will have a hard time resisting this swarm of humor and fact.
Following much the same format as in I’m Trying to Love Spiders (2015), Barton makes a strong case for the value of bees.
Edgar, a torpedo-shaped white kid with googly eyes and a scribble of hair, loves everything the narrator does, including dinosaurs, strawberries, and honey, but he’s not so sure about bees. The narrator proceeds to persuade him to “give bees a chance,” telling him there are “about 25,000 different kinds of bees to love” (a sampling of which are introduced on front and rear endpapers), describing the composition of a honeybee colony and honeybee anatomy, and regaling him with cool bee facts. Edgar’s still not sure, because, he says, “they’re all gonna sting me!” Since many readers likely share Edgar’s apprehension, Barton’s counter to this is delightfully kidcentric: “most bees lose their stinger after attacking,” she says, “which would be like your hand disappearing if you pinched your sister!” Edgar remains unconvinced, so Barton drills down on the importance of bee pollination to the world’s food supply, illustrating it with a strawberry plant that says, “throw me some pollen! I don’t have arms.” Barton’s digital mix of scribbly cartoons and comics-style panels, splashy, watercolor-effect backgrounds, and exuberant hand-lettering makes for a high-energy celebration of all things Apis.
Even the most bee-phobic readers will have a hard time resisting this swarm of humor and fact. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-670-01694-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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