Sweetly packaged, simple steps we all can take.
Nick and his friends demonstrate that even young children can reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
Four friends, a dog, and a cat join Nick to celebrate his birthday with a single-use-plastics–free picnic. Spread by spread, Ritchie introduces the ubiquity of plastics in our world, the availability of alternatives to single-use plastics, the problem of plastic waste in waterways and ocean gyres, and how it harms animals—and the people who eat them. On the ferry to the island where they will picnic, the children notice trash in the water, the lack of recycling bins, and the sale of drinks with straws (text reminds readers that some people with disabilities need straws). One spread offers a step-by-step diagram of plastic manufacture; another suggests ways to avoid plastics. Finally, the five partygoers help with a beach cleanup (wearing gloves). Engaging digital artwork may remind readers of the ink-and-watercolor illustrations of Bob Graham. There are even occasional shifts in perspective. Like his ponytailed mother, Nick is white; he wears glasses; his friends have names and appearances of varying ethnicities. Another ferry passenger is using a wheelchair. A simple, two-level text tells the story of their day, with further explanations from the author in a different type. At a time of heightened awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean, adults will welcome this introduction.
Sweetly packaged, simple steps we all can take. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0240-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard.
Rotner follows Hello Spring (2017) with this salute to the fall season.
Name a change seen in northern climes in fall, and Rotner likely covers it here, from plants, trees, and animals to the food we harvest: seeds are spread, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves change and fall (and are raked up and jumped in), some animals migrate, and many families celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. As in the previous book, the photographs (presented in a variety of sizes and layouts, all clean) are the stars here, displaying both the myriad changes of the season and a multicultural array of children enjoying the outdoors in fall. These are set against white backgrounds that make the reddish-orange print pop. The text itself uses short sentences and some solid vocabulary (though “deep sleep” is used instead of “hibernate”) to teach readers the markers of autumn, though in the quest for simplicity, Rotner sacrifices some truth. In several cases, the addition of just a few words would have made the following oversimplified statements reflect reality: “Birds grow more feathers”; “Cranberries float and turn red.” Also, Rotner includes the statement “Bees store extra honey in their hives” on a page about animals going into deep sleep, implying that honeybees hibernate, which is false.
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3869-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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