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BIRDS FROM HEAD TO TAIL

Name: BIRDS FROM HEAD TO TAIL
Author: Stacey Roderick
ISBN: 978-1-77138-925-9

From the Head to Tail series

by Stacey Roderick ; illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 2018

Engaging, attractive, and informative, a good choice for group storytime as well as one-on-one sharing.

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Identify birds by their particularly distinguishable body parts.

A question-and-answer game asks young readers and listeners to recognize familiar birds, introducing a variety of species from around the world. From head (the tufted “ears” of a great horned owl) to tail (a peacock), this inviting title presents a pleasing variety of species. Bird by bird the author asks “What bird has a head [beak, eyes, body, wings, legs, feet, and tail] like this?” on one double-page spread, with a close-up of the feature under examination. After the page turn, a second spread names the bird and adds a paragraph about the utility of the specific feature in the bird’s life. Sometimes a specific species is named (the horned owl, bald eagle, arctic tern, blue-footed booby); some are given only general names: hummingbird (it’s ruby-throated), kiwi, flamingo, peacock. Moriya’s colorful illustrations, digitally created but reminiscent of Steve Jenkins’ cut-and-torn–paper images, show first the recognizable body part, set on white space, and then the whole bird in its natural environment. Most of these birds will appear again and again in children’s books, which makes this a helpful introduction. Two pages of aftermatter introduce eight other familiar and identifiable birds and describe a specific feature—again with a head-to-tail organization. Fourth in the creators’ Head to Tail series (after dinosaurs, ocean animals, and bugs), this is equally appealing.

Engaging, attractive, and informative, a good choice for group storytime as well as one-on-one sharing. (Informational picture book. 3-7)

Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-77138-925-9

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
BUGS FROM HEAD TO TAIL
by Stacey Roderick ; illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya

- BOOK REVIEW
OCEAN ANIMALS FROM HEAD TO TAIL
by Stacey Roderick ; illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya

- BOOK REVIEW
DINOSAURS FROM HEAD TO TAIL
by Stacey Roderick ; illustrated by Kwanchai Moriya

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MOMMIES ARE AMAZING

by Meredith Costain ; illustrated by Polona Lovšin ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2017

A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.

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The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.

Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.

A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)

Pub Date: April 4, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
GRANDMAS ARE LOVELY
by Meredith Costain ; illustrated by Nicolette Hegyes

- BOOK REVIEW
DOUBLE DARE YOU
by Meredith Costain ; illustrated by Danielle McDonald

- BOOK REVIEW
DADDIES ARE AWESOME
by Meredith Costain ; illustrated by Polona Lovšin

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BABY LOVES SCIENTISTS

YOU CAN BE ANYTHING!

From the Baby Loves… series

by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Irene Chan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2019

So rocket science can be fun.

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What do you want to be when you grow up?

If they haven’t already thought about their futures (and they probably haven’t), toddlers and preschoolers might start planning after perusing this cheerful first guide to scientific careers. Plump-cheeked, wide-eyed tykes with various skin and hair colors introduce different professions, including zoologist, meteorologist, aerospace engineer, and environmental scientist, depicted with cues to tip readers off to what the jobs entail. The simple text presents the sometimes-long, tongue-twisting career names while helpfully defining them in comprehensible terms. For example, an environmental scientist “helps take care of our world,” and a zoologist is defined as someone who “studies how animals behave.” Scientists in general are identified as those who “study, learn, and solve problems.” Such basic language not only benefits youngsters, but also offers adults sharing the book easy vocabulary with which to expand on conversations with kids about the professions. The title’s ebullient appearance is helped along by the typography: The jobs’ names are set in all caps, printed in color and in a larger font than the surrounding text, and emphasized with exclamation points. Additionally, the buoyant watercolors feature clues to what scientists in these fields work with, such as celestial bodies for astronomers. The youngest listeners won’t necessarily get all of this, but the book works as a rudimentary introduction to STEM topics and a shoutout to scientific endeavors.

So rocket science can be fun. (Informational picture book. 3-6)