A package that’s appealing and accessible; a good suggestion for fledgling readers.
A well-known nature photographer shares some animal family portraits.
Eszterhas uses this selection of her striking animal photographs to introduce some of the many ways young animals are nurtured by parents, family members, and their communities. In these endearing images, her fans will recognize animals she’s studied in the field and written about previously, including cheetahs, sloths, elephants, and lions, but there are more: chimpanzees, albatrosses, topi (a type of antelope), polar bears, humpback whales, and bat-eared foxes. Beautifully reproduced close-ups of a baby animal and often its siblings with one or many caregivers fill each double-page spread. Superimposed is a boxed paragraph with simply written information about how that animal is nurtured. Sometimes there’s an additional image. The author’s point is clear: “no matter what kind of family they have, babies need care and support from others as they learn and grow.” She shows baby animals with one parent or the other (Dad or Mom), with both parents, or with a relative (Auntie), as well as babies in groups or herds. She points out that while all the albatrosses in a colony might look the same to us, parents recognize their own chick’s call. In the backmatter are smaller images of even more animal parents and children, including the puppy who’s a member of the photographer’s own family.
A package that’s appealing and accessible; a good suggestion for fledgling readers. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-77147-322-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
Budding zoologists take note.
Animals shout out their habitat names, sometimes finding striking similarities.
In a bouncy follow-up to I Was Born a Baby (2022), Fleming and Scott employ the same format, this time exploring animal homes. Wide-eyed, curious creatures peer out from their dwellings, each announcing where they live. Whenever there is a name that some share (such as nest), one of the animals interrupts to express shock: “Are you for SURE? I had NO clue!” Others (like an owl, a seal, and a gorilla) chime in: “Mine’s a nest!” “Mine’s a nest!” “Mine’s a nest, too!” A salamander pipes up: “I live in a bog.” Then a gopher pokes out from the soil, exclaiming, “I live in a mound.” A sleepy groundhog drawls from below, “My place is a burrow hidden in the ground.” The repeated (and dramatically incredulous) refrain helps anchor the story and highlights similarities. There are a variety of animals, in a variety of settings, each with its own vocabulary opportunity. Alas, the animals are not labeled on the pages, but the endpapers provide names, arranged by environments. Ultimately, a diverse set of tots (and their canine and feline friends) showcase the best home of all—a cozy bed, indoors. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Budding zoologists take note. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780063205215
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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
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