No one who reads this can remain unmoved by this tiny bird’s tenacity; this is sure to create avid new bird-watchers.
The story of one bird’s nearly 4,000-mile migratory journey.
The female yellow warbler has lived in the highlands of Nicaragua for five months, but on this day, she feels different, and that night, she takes off to the north. She flies every night for a week until she reaches the Yucatán Peninsula, where she prepares for the unceasing 600-mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. Several weeks later, she finally reaches the shores of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, Canada, where she was born and where her mate waits. Along the bird’s journey, Weidensaul introduces three children who spy her: a young brown-skinned girl picking coffee on her family’s plantation, a Black boy in his grandmother’s backyard garden on the U.S. Gulf Coast, and a Native girl celebrating the protection of her people’s land around Great Slave Lake. Lyrical language will entice readers: “The tropical night air was warm and steamy. Snakes slithered. Bats swooped on leathery wings.” Lane’s realistic oil paintings take up three-quarters of each double-page spread, immersing readers in the habitats the yellow warbler passes through. The artwork varies perspective, sometimes focusing on the bird, other times pulling back for a wider view and giving kids an opportunity to seek out the tiny yellow creature. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
No one who reads this can remain unmoved by this tiny bird’s tenacity; this is sure to create avid new bird-watchers. (map, ways to help migratory birds) (Informational picture book. 4-10)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-940719-47-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Gryphon Press
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2022
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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