Familiar, familial fun delivers facts about caribou.
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. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!”...
A wildlife photographer follows up Whose Butt? (2012) with a fresh portfolio of posteriors.
Showing no traces of fecal matter and only rarely even a glimpse of bare skin, the fuzzy or feathery fundaments on view belong to young creatures ranging from moose to mustang, cottontail to sandhill crane—all photographed in outdoor settings and all followed by longer-shot views of the whole animal, usually with a parent. The accompanying hints and nature notes are informative, if cutesy (“HANG ON! Baby opossums can hang by their tails, but as they grow, they become too heavy for upside-down fun”). In a more businesslike listing at the end, the author adds further comments about diet, range, and behavior for each, along with smaller headshots. Though any mention or image of “butts” will reliably get a rise from young audiences, overall this is more about baby animals in general than a specific portion of their anatomy.
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!” (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-59193-783-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
A worthy, if somewhat forced, venture into multidisciplinary teaching for very young children that may require caregivers to...
A generic mother bird learns to conquer the forces of physics while going about her daily chores.
In an unusual take on the well-worn topic of birds and their nests, the common activities associated with feeding and nest-building are used to teach the science of force and gravity, albeit at a very elementary level. The preface encourages caregivers to discuss the law of motion, stating that “More force is needed to change the motion of heavier objects than to change the motion of lighter objects.” (Caregivers may find themselves searching for other words to make this clear to youngsters.) Furthermore, “Earth’s gravity pulls objects towards the Earth, which makes things fall down when they are dropped.” Aspects of these principles are illustrated with somewhat dated-looking mixed-media pictures in a muddy color palette as the bird pulls worms out of the ground; struggles to find twigs light enough to carry; creates a nest with twigs, feathers, and grass; and finally lays five speckled eggs, out of which hatch baby birds. Five questions again address the physics illustrated in the story, asking about pushing, pulling, moving, and dropping.
A worthy, if somewhat forced, venture into multidisciplinary teaching for very young children that may require caregivers to do some heavy lifting of their own. (index) (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9346-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 29, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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