A special treat for all who love animal statistics.
A visual compendium of facts and figures about the animal world.
The prolific Jenkins knows how to present information in ways that resonate with his child readers. He presents aspects of animal physiology that have particular appeal for their ease of understanding (size, heart rate, life span) and for their eww! factor (venom, poison, human deaths). His examples range widely, and his information reflects what young readers want to know. How many different kinds are there? Which is fastest? Who travels furthest? He even touches on endangered species and mass extinctions. This engaging title will also delight educators, who will find it a splendid source for graph- and chart-reading practice. There are pie graphs and bar charts in varying designs, histograms, proportionally scaled graphics, clusters, a timeline, and even a flow chart. There are numerous symbols and keys. The clean design places both the animal images and the connected infographics on generous white space with clear labels. Aspects such as size and biomass are presented to scale, and these comparisons always include humans. The graphical combination of cut-and-torn–paper collage, words, and numbers begins with the table of contents. In an afterword, Jenkins explains where he got his numbers and how he dealt with conflicting statistics.
A special treat for all who love animal statistics. (bibliography, websites) (Informational picture book. 6-12)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-63092-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Epic lunacy.
Will extragalactic rats eat the moon?
Can a cybernetic toenail clipper find a worthy purpose in the vast universe? Will the first feline astronaut ever get a slice of pizza? Read on. Reworked from the Live Cartoon series of homespun video shorts released on Instagram in 2020 but retaining that “we’re making this up as we go” quality, the episodic tale begins with the electrifying discovery that our moon is being nibbled away. Off blast one strong, silent, furry hero—“Meow”—and a stowaway robot to our nearest celestial neighbor to hook up with the imperious Queen of the Moon and head toward the dark side, past challenges from pirates on the Sea of Tranquility and a sphinx with a riddle (“It weighs a ton, but floats on air. / It’s bald but has a lot of hair.” The answer? “Meow”). They endure multiple close but frustratingly glancing encounters with pizza and finally deliver the malign, multiheaded Rat King and its toothy armies to a suitable fate. Cue the massive pizza party! Aside from one pirate captain and a general back on Earth, the human and humanoid cast in Harris’ loosely drawn cartoon panels, from the appropriately moon-faced queen on, is light skinned. Merch, music, and the original episodes are available on an associated website.
Epic lunacy. (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: May 10, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-308408-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A fun little adventure brimming with Disney intellectual-property synergy.
A young mouse earns her place among a secret society of world-savers.
Bernadette is a small rodent with big ambitions: joining the Mouse Watch, an elite team of mice that protect the world from evil while keeping themselves secret from humans. Bernie has long dreamed of joining her idol, Gadget Hackwrench (the female lead of Disney’s popular cartoon Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers), and going on gizmo-filled, adrenaline-fueled adventures. As a new recruit of the Watch, Bernie befriends Jarvis, a sensitive rat with puzzle-solving skills to spare. The two rodents flit from set piece to set piece, uncovering a dastardly plot concocted by the devilish Dr. Thornpaw that could turn the world upside down. Readers familiar with Rescue Rangers will find similar rhythms here: a precise blend of jokes, action, and plucky young heroes ambitious to prove themselves. The novel is smartly paced, keeping readers pushing forward but with just enough assurance that everything will turn out OK in the end. It’s a comfort read, one that tees up a sequel in its final pages and points back just enough to Rescue Rangers that young readers interested in exploring more of this world won’t be disappointed (provided their families have subscribed to Disney +).
A fun little adventure brimming with Disney intellectual-property synergy. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-368-05218-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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