Skip it.
A young alpaca learns how important her fleece is to humans.
“High up in the Andes, on a mountain in Peru, / Pati the alpaca gussied up for her debut.” Pati is off to meet her classmates by a lake. And right away the problems with this book present themselves. The story is a two-pronged one. On the one side is a story with a puritanical lesson that finds fault with Pati’s wanting to look her best, and Pati soon learns that she will be a better being if she willingly gives up her fleece to help humans keep warm. The second intent of the story seems to be to introduce children to Spanish words. Unfortunately, the meanings of the Spanish words sprinkled through the text are not obvious, forcing readers to flip back and forth between the story and the glossary at the end. For example: “One day, cría Carmen whispered, “Pati, ¡no te creas! / In the spring we lose our fur and then we’ll all be feas!” The illustrations are also problematic. With an emphasis on the cute and colorful, the images represent an Andean scenery of lush, fresh greens. Nothing could be more removed from the harsh environment that exists at these high altitudes.
Skip it. (glossary, author’s note, additional facts) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7624-9414-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An object lesson in the value of patience as well as a droll introduction to meta-what-now.
Not every caterpillar gets the memo—or is, for that matter, temperamentally suited to spending two weeks immobilized in a chrysalis.
Seeing everyone headed up a tree (“We’re going to metamorphosize.” “Meta-WHAT-now?”) a clueless caterpillar hurries to follow. Despite the promise of a dazzling transformation, every step in the natural process, from spinning a chrysalis on, is an occasion for histrionic dismay (“It’s STILL Day 1?” “This is taking FOR-EV-ER!”). Gradually, though, the pop-eyed pupa’s kvetching quiets, the moans and groans turn to meditation (“Be one with the chrysalis”), and two weeks later: “I did it! I’m a BUTTERFLY!” Burach chronicles this miracle of nature in cartoon scenes as loud as the rapid patter, culminating in a migratory flight of butterflies and a final “ARE WE THERE YET?!” that hints at a character transformation that’s perhaps less complete than the physical one. It won’t be just adults chuckling at the interactions between the title character and its patiently pupating companions; all the characters speak in dialogue balloons, the protagonist’s green with purple text to match its chrysalis.
An object lesson in the value of patience as well as a droll introduction to meta-what-now. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-28941-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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