An important wake-up call to help stem the decline of these monarchs of the skies.
Uniting the three countries of North America is the majestic, jewellike monarch butterfly.
This engaging book highlights the fascinating life cycle of these striking insects and follows the nearly 3,000-mile kaleidoscopic journey millions of monarchs make from Canada and the United States to central Mexico. The flow of information is smooth and facilitates intuitive learning in an attention-grabbing format. Interspersed with succinct and easily digestible miniparagraphs are magnified inserts and unifying factoids in orange and yellow bubbles. The full-page diagrams of the caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly are inviting and descriptive. Hobbie’s brief overview of the milkweed ecosystem and the monarch predators that are part of it is perfect for initiating classroom discussion. She discusses how the arriving butterflies coincide with Mexico’s Day of the Dead and are considered “a symbol of the spirits of the dead coming back to visit.” Baumert’s precise and exquisite illustrations flawlessly support and enhance the text. Her vibrant color palette slowly evolves from the bright greens of spring and monarch caterpillars to the oranges of fall and migrating butterflies. The final section describes the dangers threatening the monarchs’ survival, including loss of habitat, and provides suggested projects for citizen scientists. Also included are advocacy opportunities, enrichment activities, a glossary, and websites. Unfortunately, in an apparent oversight, Hobbie relocates Mexico to Central America in the backmatter. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
An important wake-up call to help stem the decline of these monarchs of the skies. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63586-289-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort.
A look at the unique ways that 11 globe-spanning animal species construct their homes.
Each creature garners two double-page spreads, which Cherrix enlivens with compelling and at-times jaw-dropping facts. The trapdoor spider constructs a hidden burrow door from spider silk. Sticky threads, fanning from the entrance, vibrate “like a silent doorbell” when walked upon by unwitting insect prey. Prairie dogs expertly dig communal burrows with designated chambers for “sleeping, eating, and pooping.” The largest recorded “town” occupied “25,000 miles and housed as many as 400 million prairie dogs!” Female ants are “industrious insects” who can remove more than a ton of dirt from their colony in a year. Cathedral termites use dirt and saliva to construct solar-cooled towers 30 feet high. Sasaki’s lively pictures borrow stylistically from the animal compendiums of mid-20th-century children’s lit; endpapers and display type elegantly suggest the blues of cyanotypes and architectural blueprints. Jarringly, the lead spread cheerfully extols the prowess of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, “the world’s largest living structure,” while ignoring its accelerating, human-abetted destruction. Calamitously, the honeybee hive is incorrectly depicted as a paper-wasps’ nest, and the text falsely states that chewed beeswax “hardens into glue to shape the hive.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5625-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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