“Mapping” is the focus of this Level 3 title in Stuart’s popular MathStart series. The Elm Street Kids’ Club finds an old map leading to a buried time capsule; full-bleed illustrations appear throughout as the children follow the map’s clues. Leave it to Tusa, though, to add to the story as the presence of a giant (legs sticking out from under the map; disappearing into a door in the hill; face peering over the landscape) suggests something else is up. The clues, however, don’t require much mathematical thinking at all. “Walk 125 steps” is about as math-oriented as they get, though they do double the number later. Although sections of the map are occasionally enlarged, readers really can’t follow along even to test their skills of turning left or right or noting where the symbols lie without going back to the second page. As a stand-alone story, this one is weak, made appealing by Tusa’s fancy. A few mapping activities are included in the back that prove the most useful aspect of this questionable purchase. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-028036-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
Most children will agree the book is “smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).” (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)
In this entertaining chapter book, the first in a series, readers meet kind Sir Sidney and the gentle performers and hands in his circus. But Sir Sidney is tired and leaves the circus under the management of new-hire Barnabas Brambles for a week.
That Sir Sidney is beloved by all is quickly established, presenting a sharp contrast to the bully Brambles. The scoundrel immediately comes up with a “to do” list that includes selling the animals and eliminating the mice Bert and Gert. (Gert is almost more distressed by Brambles’ ill-fitting suit and vows to tailor it.) Revealed almost entirely through dialogue, the put-upon animals’ solidarity is endearing. The story, like the circus train now driven by the Famous Flying Banana Brothers, takes absurd loops and turns. The art is fully integrated, illustrating the action and supplementing the text with speech bubbles, facsimile letters and posters, Brambles’ profit-and-loss notes, examples of Gert’s invented vocabulary and more. Brambles’ plans go awry, of course, and he gets his comeuppance. With Bert and Gert acting as his conscience, along with a suit from Gert that finally fits and a dose of forgiveness, Brambles makes a turnaround. Sensitive children may doubt Sir Sidney’s wisdom in leaving his animals with an unscrupulous man, and the closing message is a tad didactic, but that doesn’t blunt the fun too much.
Most children will agree the book is “smafunderful (smart + fun + wonderful).” (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-61620-244-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: May 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Strong heartwood.
The titular exhortation is explained and expounded upon in spare free verse that teaches both well-established facts about trees and new revelations about their interlinked, supportive communities.
Peter Wohlleben’s The Hidden Life of Trees (2016) has claimed yet another enthusiast among picture-book creators. This book has the advantage of lyrical, accessible poetry and vibrant watercolors from an ever changing palette. The book consists almost entirely of double-page spreads, and each page turn but one yields images of trees or parts of trees—and many show gloriously diverse children and adults enjoying their time with, under, and among equally varied kinds of trees. The initial spread repeats the book’s title on the verso as it adds on the recto: “Stand tall. / Stretch your branches to the sun.” The baobab trees that span the book’s gutter shade a small child of color, happily reaching out to the sky. The text continues to advise its readers to be trees as its metaphors become increasingly complex. One imaginative spread shows an abstraction of a tree’s pith, contrasted with a simple, representational illustration of the human circulatory system. After basic anatomy has been covered, spreads on the wonders of the sustaining “wood wide web” and the urgency of biodiversity segue cleverly into the necessity of humans gathering in community. The ending exhortation would seem sappy under less professional handling, but instead it is a proper conclusion to an argument grounded in facts and heartfelt artwork. The backmatter, including tips on saving trees and engaging in community, is excellent, too. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.3-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 55.3% of actual size.)
Strong heartwood. (author’s note, anatomy of a tree, resources) (Informational picture book. 7-12)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4422-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
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