Free of gore, but replete with scenes of large, toothy predators eyeing, or sometimes rushing directly at viewers, this introduction to extinct sharks and their relatives is a definite goosebump-raiser. Billing sharks as “one of the greatest success stories of life on Earth,” and scattering deliciously hard-to-pronounce names—Cladoselache, Spathobathis, Sclerorhynchus—liberally through the short passages of text, Bradley mentions what little is known about each predator, but also points out possible or probable parallels in modern species. He groups his fishy fiends by era, going for drama over meticulous detail in depicting them attacking prey or cruising past contemporaneous sea life and adding on each spread to-scale silhouettes of a human diver and a modern great white for comparison. Capped by an all-too-close look at the Cenozoic era’s ridiculously immense Carcharodon Megalodon, here’s a riveting addition to the dinosaur shelves. Take off design points, though, for placing art and information under the jacket flaps. (glossary, further reading, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-8118-4878-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2007
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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