This Born Free Wildlife Book makes clear that the elephant may soon go the way of the passenger pigeon; ironically, humans are behind both the demise of the pachyderms, and their survival. Travers (whose parents are of Born Free fame; see McKenna, above) tells of one rescue effort, casting it first in fairly anthropomorphic terms, from the viewpoint of Tembo, the first elephant involved with the Elephant Translocation program. In Kenya, when the drought comes, hungry elephants invade farmers' fields, where they often eat and destroy a whole season's worth of crops. Scientists banded together to save Tembo—and other elephants in small reserves—by transporting him to the greener, wider pastures of Tsavo National Park. This section is depicted in Taylor's sand-colored drawings that personalize the elephants' ordeals with the farmers, while retaining the wild look of the animals. The second version of the tale takes a more fact-based approach, recreating the actual move, with full-color snapshots, journal-like entries, and a fact page to answer basic questions about elephants. Even to readers who have never seen elephants in the wild, this book makes clear the value of preserving both the animal and its habitat, and does so without condescension or oversimplification. (Picture book. 7-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7613-0408-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
A luminous call to think about what is and to envision what might be.
In U.S. Poet Laureate Limón’s debut picture book, soaring images and lyrics invite contemplation of life’s wonders—on Earth and perhaps, tantalizingly, elsewhere.
“O second moon,” writes Limón, “we, too, are made / of water, // of vast and beckoning seas.” In visual responses to a poem that will be carried by NASA’s Europa Clipper, a probe scheduled for launch in October 2024 and designed to check Jupiter’s ice-covered ocean moon for possible signs of life, Sís offers flowing glimpses of earthly birds and whales, of heavenly bodies lit with benevolent smiles, and a small light-skinned space traveler flying between worlds in a vessel held aloft by a giant book. Following the undulations of the poet’s cadence, falling raindrops give way to shimmering splashes, then to a climactic fiery vision reminiscent of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night before finishing with mirrored human figures made of stars. Visual images evocative of the tree of life presage what Límon writes in her afterword: that her poem is as much about “our own precious planet” as it is about what may lie in wait for us to discover on others. “We, too, are made of wonders, of great / and ordinary loves, // of small invisible worlds, // of a need to call out through the dark.”
A luminous call to think about what is and to envision what might be. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781324054009
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Familiar school concerns, nicely resolved, make this another excellent selection for early chapter-book readers. (Fiction....
Third-grader Wilson Williams knows he'll never learn fractions: “Multiplication was hard enough,” he tells his pet hamster, Pip.
Worse, his parents have arranged for a math tutor. Just the idea of a tutor is embarrassing, but sympathetic Mrs. Tucker uses his love for hamsters to help him understand the math, and soon he’s quite clear about the difference between the Nice Numerator and the Dumb Denominator. At the same time, Pip becomes the basis for a successful science-fair project. Not only does Wilson have some academic success, he makes his little brother happy. Though only in kindergarten, Kipper has a science-fair project too. In the process of Kipper’s investigations, one of his favorite stuffed animals disappears. Big brother Wilson comes to the rescue. Most satisfying of all, he discovers that others—even his very best friend—are tutored, too. The short chapters have believable dialogue and plenty of reader appeal. In one, Wilson tries to teach his hamster to shake hands; in another, his friend Josh experiments with blowing up a pickle. Karas' scratchy grayscale drawings, one to a chapter, support the story. This sequel to 7 x 9 = Trouble (2002) follows logically but also stands on its own.
Familiar school concerns, nicely resolved, make this another excellent selection for early chapter-book readers. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: June 21, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-36716-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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