“The more you find out about gorillas, the more interesting and less fearsome they become” is this prolific author’s theme; he makes his case by matching appealing, shot-in-the-wild photographs to a fluently informative report on the gorilla’s physical make-up and typical behavior. They are not so different from us, he contends, pointing to their DNA, fingerprints, and other features, describing their daily routines in the wild, how young are raised, what gorilla sounds and gestures signify, how they respond to perceived threats, and so on. His approach is wonderfully accessible, giving his young readers connections they can recognize: “Fully grown males may weigh more than four hundred pounds, about the weight of ten second-grade children.” While it’s an idyllic existence—“A gorilla belch means that it is feeding contentedly or sleeping nicely. One gorilla belches, and soon all the gorillas are belching in a slow, relaxing chorus”—it is also threatened, he notes at the end. Building his case carefully and thoughtfully, Simon (They Walk the Earth, p. 485, etc.) leads the reader to understand how nearly human these gentle creatures are, thereby increasing the sense of obligation to save them by saving their forests. The photographs, most of which are closeups, capture how expressive gorilla faces can be. Who could resist their charm? Like Ted and Betsy Lewin’s Gorilla Walk (1999), a sure way to turn gorilla-phobes into gorilla-philes. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-023035-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Varieties, life cycle, pack and hunting behavior, and the current status of this endangered predator—although with what may seem too many transparently rhetorical questions (``Are wolves savage and destructive hunters of people and livestock?'') and fillers (``After wolves kill a large animal, they may rest for a brief time or eat right away''). Without attribution, Simon states that ``...there is no record of a healthy wolf ever trying to kill a human in North America.'' In Gray Wolf, Red Wolf (1990, for slightly older readers), Patent is more precise: ``there is no record of a healthy wild wolf attacking a human.'' Patent also does a better job of stating the case for and against reintroducing wolves in national parks. Still, though his text isn't up to his usual high standard, Simon again selects outstanding photos—this book's strongest and most appealing feature. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-022531-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
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