An eloquent, if somewhat disorganized, gallery of rarities.
A wide-angled survey of threatened and recently extinct animals worldwide, originally published in Italian.
In a random jumble of entries more suitable for dipping than systematic reading or research, quick introductions to dozens of rare or vanished creatures mingle with mini-disquisitions on topics from wunderkammer and the official Red List of Threatened Species to examples of creatures once but wrongly believed extinct or, conversely, entirely new to scientists. If the narrative sometimes has a tossed-off quality, the art definitely doesn’t. Along with crafting arrays of expertly depicted, naturally posed wildlife portraits in monochrome and pale colors, Alcini tucks in several fanciful or trenchant vignettes, such as a tiny mountain pygmy possum adorably perched on a human thumb, a smuggled pangolin peering out of a suitcase, and the image of a dignified dodo…on a tombstone. There isn’t space for images of all mentioned animals; the illustrator squeezes in only one rare snake for an accompanying commentary that mentions four, one kind of rare tiger next to a tally of eight, and two of four specifically mentioned great apes. Readers’ eyes may at times glaze over at the cascade of abstract names and Latin binomials. Still, as an unusually broad cross-section of species that are going or gone, as well as a graphic demonstration of the beauty and diversity of what we lose when they die out, this will leave a marked impression on young audiences.
An eloquent, if somewhat disorganized, gallery of rarities. (index, glossary) (Informational picture book. 8-11)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781636550725
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Red Comet Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts.
From a Caldecott and Sibert honoree, an invitation to take a mind-expanding journey from the surface of our planet to the furthest reaches of the observable cosmos.
Though Chin’s assumption that we are even capable of understanding the scope of the universe is quixotic at best, he does effectively lead viewers on a journey that captures a sense of its scale. Following the model of Kees Boeke’s classic Cosmic View: The Universe in Forty Jumps (1957), he starts with four 8-year-old sky watchers of average height (and different racial presentations). They peer into a telescope and then are comically startled by the sudden arrival of an ostrich that is twice as tall…and then a giraffe that is over twice as tall as that…and going onward and upward, with ellipses at each page turn connecting the stages, past our atmosphere and solar system to the cosmic web of galactic superclusters. As he goes, precisely drawn earthly figures and features in the expansive illustrations give way to ever smaller celestial bodies and finally to glimmering swirls of distant lights against gulfs of deep black before ultimately returning to his starting place. A closing recap adds smaller images and additional details. Accompanying the spare narrative, valuable side notes supply specific lengths or distances and define their units of measure, accurately explain astronomical phenomena, and close with the provocative observation that “the observable universe is centered on us, but we are not in the center of the entire universe.”
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts. (afterword, websites, further reading) (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4623-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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