Deceptively simple yet wondrous.
Follow the journey of a tumbling tumbleweed.
In this picture book, lilting—or, more accurately, tumbling—rhyming couplets help readers bounce along with a tumbleweed as, over a period of unspecified time, winds roll it across the shifting terrains of dusty desert sands. What a journey this is. While the text is simple, with usually one couplet or simple phrase appearing on a page, the life forms that the plant encounters are complex. The tumbleweed and readers meet with a marvelous display of biodiversity—other plants and animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects—that proves that a desert bursts with life and myriad wonders. In the course of its travels over day into night and from sunshine into a thunderstorm, the tumbleweed comes into bloom, then travels onward: “Wind blows…Tumble goes and goes and goes.” Who knows where? Readers will have already learned from the gentle text that the possibilities are probably endless. Adults sharing this charming book about a little-known plant and its environs should encourage children to suggest—perhaps with simple rhymes—or illustrate what else the tumbleweed might meet as the wind rolls it across a desert. The many changes in colors in the illustrations suggest the desert’s vitality; dotted lines track the tumbleweed’s path and rotating movements. Some pages are wordless, allowing readers to focus on the evocative natural scenes and up-close views of wildlife. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Deceptively simple yet wondrous. (can you spot the plants and animals? fun facts about tumbleweeds) (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 6, 2023
ISBN: 9781338828665
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying.
Catering to young scientists, naturalists, and Shark Week fans–to-be, this visually arresting volume presents a good deal of information in easily digested bites.
Like others in the Block Books series, this book feels both compact and massive. When closed, it is 5.5 inches across, 6.5 inches tall, and nearly 2 inches thick, weighty and solid, with stiff cardboard pages that boast creative die cuts and numerous fold-out three- and four-panel tableaux. While it’s possible it’s not the only book with a dorsal fin, it certainly must be among the best. The multiracial cast of aquarium visitors includes a Sikh man with his kids and a man of color who uses a wheelchair; there they discover the dramatic degree of variations among sharks. The book begins with a trip to a shark exhibit, complete with a megalodon jaw. The text points out that there are over 400 known types of sharks alive today, then introduces 18 examples, including huge whale sharks, tiny pocket sharks, and stealthy, well-camouflaged wobbegongs. Reef sharks prowl the warm waters of the surface, while sand tiger sharks explore shipwrecks on the ocean floor. Bioluminescent catsharks reside at the bottom of an inky black flap that folds down, signifying the deepest ocean depths, where no sunlight penetrates. Great whites get star treatment with four consecutive two-page spreads; their teeth and appetite impress but don’t horrify. The book does a wonderful job of highlighting the interconnectedness of species and the importance of environmental stewardship.
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4119-7
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
So rocket science can be fun.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If they haven’t already thought about their futures (and they probably haven’t), toddlers and preschoolers might start planning after perusing this cheerful first guide to scientific careers. Plump-cheeked, wide-eyed tykes with various skin and hair colors introduce different professions, including zoologist, meteorologist, aerospace engineer, and environmental scientist, depicted with cues to tip readers off to what the jobs entail. The simple text presents the sometimes-long, tongue-twisting career names while helpfully defining them in comprehensible terms. For example, an environmental scientist “helps take care of our world,” and a zoologist is defined as someone who “studies how animals behave.” Scientists in general are identified as those who “study, learn, and solve problems.” Such basic language not only benefits youngsters, but also offers adults sharing the book easy vocabulary with which to expand on conversations with kids about the professions. The title’s ebullient appearance is helped along by the typography: The jobs’ names are set in all caps, printed in color and in a larger font than the surrounding text, and emphasized with exclamation points. Additionally, the buoyant watercolors feature clues to what scientists in these fields work with, such as celestial bodies for astronomers. The youngest listeners won’t necessarily get all of this, but the book works as a rudimentary introduction to STEM topics and a shoutout to scientific endeavors.
So rocket science can be fun. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62354-149-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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