As wise Mama Caribou encourages her stubborn male calf to join the herd’s long, seasonal migration north for summer, readers learn facts about caribou and migration.
The formula developed in Hush Up and Hibernate! (2018) continues here, using childlike behaviors recognizable to children and adults for Baby Bou and showing in Mama Caribou a parent who gently but firmly nudges her child toward maturity. Mama Caribou initially allows her calf to procrastinate from the upcoming migration: He gets to play with his friends and then dig through snow for a snack of lichens. As Mama counters further excuses, readers learn rudimentary facts about caribou diets, predators, and the migration journey. A funny double-page spread uses the gutter playfully to show Baby Bou’s recollections of summer’s pesky mosquitoes. The background art of tundra scenery and herds of caribou is realistic and appealing, and it uses varied focusing techniques for distance. However, unlike the bears in the earlier book, this anthropomorphic pair—particularly the calf—has been endowed with spherical eyeballs that often look uncomfortably ready to pop out. Other than that unfortunate choice, there are some excellent facial expressions on both caribou, whose humanlike behaviors will keep readers entertained. As with its predecessor, the text offers a funny and familiar punchline and then several pages of facts related to the migration of temporary tundra-dwellers.
Familiar, familial fun delivers facts about caribou. (suggested activity, resources) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-943978-42-7
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Persnickety Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY
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Catering to young scientists, naturalists, and Shark Week fans–to-be, this visually arresting volume presents a good deal of information in easily digested bites.
Like others in the Block Books series, this book feels both compact and massive. When closed, it is 5.5 inches across, 6.5 inches tall, and nearly 2 inches thick, weighty and solid, with stiff cardboard pages that boast creative die cuts and numerous fold-out three- and four-panel tableaux. While it’s possible it’s not the only book with a dorsal fin, it certainly must be among the best. The multiracial cast of aquarium visitors includes a Sikh man with his kids and a man of color who uses a wheelchair; there they discover the dramatic degree of variations among sharks. The book begins with a trip to a shark exhibit, complete with a megalodon jaw. The text points out that there are over 400 known types of sharks alive today, then introduces 18 examples, including huge whale sharks, tiny pocket sharks, and stealthy, well-camouflaged wobbegongs. Reef sharks prowl the warm waters of the surface, while sand tiger sharks explore shipwrecks on the ocean floor. Bioluminescent catsharks reside at the bottom of an inky black flap that folds down, signifying the deepest ocean depths, where no sunlight penetrates. Great whites get star treatment with four consecutive two-page spreads; their teeth and appetite impress but don’t horrify. The book does a wonderful job of highlighting the interconnectedness of species and the importance of environmental stewardship.
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4119-7
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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