Useful, basic information delivered in an upbeat, colorful package.
Loosely organized in four sections, this compendium features poetic narration, often by the creepy-crawlies themselves, along with facts and suggestions for observing and fostering habitats.
The first three sections introduce specific critters, from millipedes and monarch butterflies to bombardier beetles and bumblebees, some 25 species in all. (Mole uses the unscientific, catch-all term bug without explanation, though in the final section he makes distinctions between insects and other species, such as gastropods and arachnids.) The author occasionally highlights specific habitats such as ponds and includes information, especially in the concluding section, on the important roles these creatures play in regulating our planet’s web of life, from decomposing rotting matter to feeding on garden pests. From a zoological class containing millions of species, Mole plucks plenty of wow-factor snippets to entertain young children. A cockroach’s strong exoskeleton can withstand 900 times its own weight—the equivalent of a 7-year-old being able to hoist two blue whales! New Zealand glow-worms lure their unsuspecting prey with luminescent snot. Leafcutter ants don’t eat their harvest; they feed it to a tasty fungus, which the ants feed on in turn. Stylistically, Mole’s unconcerned with poetic scansion, instead favoring occasional rhyme and apt metaphor. In “Grasshoppers,” the “field fizzes with chirps and clicks.” Ming’s pictures strike a nice balance between veracity and bright, stylized appeal.
Useful, basic information delivered in an upbeat, colorful package. (Informational picture book/poetry. 3-8)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781536238877
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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 ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
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