Inspiring and perspective-granting.
This book is about the universe we call ours—and the not-so remote possibility that life might exist “out there.”
Our universe is big—really big. Chances are likely that we are not alone in inhabiting it. But if someone else is out there, what form would that life have? “Creepy extraterrestrials” looking a bit like us, only with big, bald heads, pallid skin, and big, eerie eyes? Robotlike creatures? Fanged green bipeds with antennae and webbed feet? What would their attitude be toward us: evil and warmongering? Friendly and peaceful? But wait! What if that extraterrestrial life is just like ours, minding its own business on its remote planet? People who look just like us, with our diversity, both human and animal; an intelligent life-form behaving just like we do, on a planet just like ours? Author/illustrator Sullivan’s tour de force comes in the form of a surprise in the last few pages: What if we, human beings inhabiting planet Earth, are someone else’s alien life? An imaginative invitation to empathy and a serious reflection on otherness are hidden between the pages of an adorable and cleverly written piece. Candid and colorful illustrations on two-page spreads do justice to a simple and thought-provoking narrative, postulated scenes depicted in round frames, as if seen through a telescope.
Inspiring and perspective-granting. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-285449-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2019
A visual feast.
A celebration of humankind’s connection to the natural world, as a child joyfully observes how a tree—and all the elements that allow it to flourish—lives on in people.
A brown-skinned child with short, curly black hair plucks an apple from a tree. As it’s eaten, the fruit’s rosy glow is reflected in the youth’s cheeks as the text reads, “The tree in me / is part apple.” And so the poetic text, with the tree refrain starting each stanza, continues. The wise child, with the help of a multiracial cast of friends, plays among glorious trees—climbing, swinging from, and reading on branches; jumping among leaves; and resting in their cool shade. With each spread, the link between the trees and the children strengthens. The soil, sun, and rain that nourish the trees are also parts of the child, as are the bee that pollinates, the squirrel that regenerates, and the worm that decomposes and enriches the ground. The cycles of the tree and of the larger natural world, including humans, are honored. Luyken captures the splendor of nature in her brushwork and patterns. Done in gouache, pencil, and ink, her simplified designs are layered with energy and skillfully composed. Warm pink and yellow hues create a soft radiance, cooled by the middle spreads of predominant blue patterns for rain and sky, which create endless delight for the children. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-14-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
A visual feast. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11259-5
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
An excellent addition to classroom, library, or personal nature collections.
Who knew the food chain would make for such a jaunty rhyme?
“Far from the north, an island can be found. / Earth’s salty seas flow all around. / But who has the hungriest mouth / in the seas of the south?” There’s a great mass of plankton floating; something is coming to eat it…it could be a sea horse or a moon jelly. “No, no, no, it’s nothing like that. / It’s someone else in this habitat.” It’s pink Antarctic krill…but there’s a hungrier mouth heading toward the krill. It could be a petrel swooping down into the sea or a squid; nope, this time it’s a blue cod. Through each link in the food chain, two possibilities are offered before the answer is revealed. The animals get bigger and bigger until it’s an orca dining on a brown fur seal. British artist and teacher Walters’ debut is a fun-to-read rhyme that does an excellent job tracing one food chain from microscopic plankton to apex predator. The realistic animals in his cut-paper collages will remind adults of Steve Jenkins’ work, and young biologists will enjoy trying to identify each slightly larger mouth from just the lips (or beak) tantalizingly placed at the edge of every other recto. Backmatter completes the package, with further information, a matching activity, and a card game.
An excellent addition to classroom, library, or personal nature collections. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62855-631-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
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