In their fourth entry in this nature series, collaborators Winer and Oliver (Birds Build Nests, 2002, etc.) again utilize their successful format to explore the world of frogs through lyrical rhyming text and exquisitely detailed watercolor paintings. Winer’s patterned text uses five lines for each verse, conveying basic information about how, when, where, and why frogs make their distinctive sounds. A few of the rhymes are strained, but the repetitive structure and rich vocabulary will work well for reading aloud in classroom situations. Oliver’s meticulous watercolor illustrations show every wrinkle and wart, with varying perspectives that add another layer of interest. Each full-page illustration shows a different frog within its particular environment, often with the distinctive addition of another interesting creature or plant. One particularly memorable painting shows an Asian horned frog in the foreground camouflaged within brown leaves, juxtaposed against the surprising backdrop of a tiger’s striped face. Each frog is also shown in a smaller, single illustration above the verses, and these illustrations are used as the key to two final pages of more specific information about each type of frog, including their Latin names. An illustration of the frog life cycle is incorporated into the title page, and a bibliography of additional resources is appended, including both print and online sources. (Nonfiction. 5-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-57091-548-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
Scotton makes a stylish debut with this tale of a sleepless sheep—depicted as a blocky, pop-eyed, very soft-looking woolly with a skinny striped nightcap of unusual length—trying everything, from stripping down to his spotted shorts to counting all six hundred million billion and ten stars, twice, in an effort to doze off. Not even counting sheep . . . well, actually, that does work, once he counts himself. Dawn finds him tucked beneath a rather-too-small quilt while the rest of his flock rises to bathe, brush and riffle through the Daily Bleat. Russell doesn’t have quite the big personality of Ian Falconer’s Olivia, but more sophisticated fans of the precocious piglet will find in this art the same sort of daffy urbanity. Quite a contrast to the usual run of ovine-driven snoozers, like Phyllis Root’s Ten Sleepy Sheep, illustrated by Susan Gaber (2004). (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-059848-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2005
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