A sturdy and versatile curriculum companion
This square-format book consists of 13 spreads, each with a full-page close-up photograph of a common American species of bird.
These include the American robin, blue jay, Carolina chickadee, ruby-throated hummingbird, downy woodpecker, Northern mockingbird, red-winged blackbird, Eastern bluebird, brown pelican, great horned owl, American crow, Canada goose, and Northern cardinal. Each photo is annotated with factual labels in a cursive typeface and a salient fact about each species (did you know that the American robin is one of a few bird species that can both walk and hop?). The left page of each spread contains an original poem about the bird, along with a paragraph describing a scientific or historical aspect of the species. The last three pages contain “Story Stretchers”: extension activities in art, science, math, and music, which expand and develop the concepts expressed in the spreads, such as the different qualities of bird song, how hummingbirds move, and the rhythm of woodpeckers’ drumming. Although the book is stronger in math and science concepts than the arts––the quality of the poetry is uneven––the approach is consistent with the current educational trend toward fostering cross-disciplinary understanding of topics and will be useful for home-schooled children or as supplements to the elementary school curriculum. Butterflies, which publishes simultaneously, follows a similar format.
A sturdy and versatile curriculum companion . (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4867-1320-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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