An excellent addition to curriculums that tie scientific principles to cultural practices; the work should be embraced by...
A member of the Gitxsan Nation in British Columbia uses his singular perspective to craft this debut picture book about the life cycle and environmental impact of the sockeye salmon.
The narrative follows a sockeye salmon from birth to death, describing each phase of its life and culminating in the fish’s swimming upstream to spawn and die. While there is much literature about the remarkable migration of salmon, this tale succeeds in linking this natural phenomenon to the cultural practices of the Gitxsan and their interpretation of the seasons. The story also emphasizes the migration’s ecological importance. Readers are told that the small sockeye’s “life cycle not only nourishes the people and other beings along the watersheds, it is the whole reason the forests and landscapes exist.” The book is clearly written, and Huson is not shy about using a sophisticated vocabulary, supplementing many passages with definitions or explanations to help readers digest the information. In addition to the scientific terms, readers are introduced to Gitxsan words, phrases, and ideas (“New snow, which the Gitxsan call dalugwa”). The pictures by debut illustrator Donovan are beautifully rendered, reminiscent of ink-and-brush work, and make use of imagery from Pacific Northwest cultures. The book closes with a brief description of the location and practices of the Gitxsan, along with a map.
An excellent addition to curriculums that tie scientific principles to cultural practices; the work should be embraced by libraries to help educate readers about the Gitxsan.Pub Date: March 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-55379-739-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HighWater Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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