Cut-paper collages depict the denizens of six different habitats, first disguised in situ and then, with the turn of the page, in the same orientations but in plain view on a white background. The phrase “I see . . . ” is completed on this second spread by the names of the animals represented and brief descriptions of what they are doing. Thumbnails of each animal appear again in the back matter with more thorough descriptions, along with discussion and location of their different habitats. An ant appears in each habitat, boosting the “I spy” appeal of the activity, and in general, this offering provides what readers have come to expect from Jenkins: eye-popping collages and accessible information about the natural world. However, there may be a hint of staleness in the air: While the animals have the lush, textured look one associates with Jenkins’s work, the habitats are much less well-developed, resulting in a flatness and skewing of perspective that distorts the relative sizes of the animals shown. Unfortunate. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 30, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-50764-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rhythmic storytelling and gorgeous illustrations make this a delight.
Painterly oils accompany rhyming verse to describe one imaginative child’s rainy-day adventure.
A child and the family dog are stuck inside on a wet day and must find alternative ways to entertain themselves. Tried-and-true toys like cars, teddy bears, and balls are fun for a time, but after a while, the youth must find something with a bit more heft. Reaching into the farthest corners of the imagination, the child conjures “a whole new world / in a different place— / a galaxy off in / outer space!” Scanning the room, the child identifies a rocking chair as the perfect rocket ship. To create the launching pad, the child borrows some of Dad’s tools and a cardboard box full of socks. For a cool spacesuit, the child finds some patterned yellow swim trunks and goggles. For a flag, the child uses “Mom’s old dishrag.” With some additional help from Mom and Dad, the launch is an incredible success. An old broom provides thrust down the hall. The child lands perfectly in bed and prepares for a “safe arrival” in the “Land of ZZZZZZs.” The illustrations love this black family, highlighting the glow of their skin and luxuriating in the narrator’s abundant, textured curls. The lavish application of paint—broader than in most picture books—means this will show especially well in a group setting.
Rhythmic storytelling and gorgeous illustrations make this a delight. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6177-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Denene Millner Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A simple but effective look at a keystone species.
Sea otters are the key to healthy kelp forests on the Pacific coast of North America.
There have been several recent titles for older readers about the critical role sea otters play in the coastal Pacific ecosystem. This grand, green version presents it to even younger readers and listeners, using a two-level text and vivid illustrations. Biologist Buhrman-Deever opens as if she were telling a fairy tale: “On the Pacific coast of North America, where the ocean meets the shore, there are forests that have no trees.” The treelike forms are kelp, home to numerous creatures. Two spreads show this lush underwater jungle before its king, the sea otter, is introduced. A delicate balance allows this system to flourish, but there was a time that hunting upset this balance. The writer is careful to blame not the Indigenous peoples who had always hunted the area, but “new people.” In smaller print she explains that Russian explorations spurred the development of an international fur trade. Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance. “People do not always understand at first the changes they cause when they take too much.” Sea urchins take over; a page turn reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when hunting stops and the otters return…and with them, the kelp forests.
A simple but effective look at a keystone species. (further information, select bibliography, additional resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8934-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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