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FIRST BIG BOOK OF THE OCEAN

Name: FIRST BIG BOOK OF THE OCEAN
Author: Catherine D. Hughes
ISBN: 978-1-4263-1368-4

From the National Geographic Kids Everything series

by Catherine D. Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 8, 2013

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Equally suitable for quick dips or lengthy dives, this gallery of ocean dwellers will attract schools of newly fledged readers.

Grouping her profiles by ocean (but noting wider distribution where appropriate), Hughes introduces 33 creatures or types of creature. These range from krill to blue whale, stony coral to Atlantic puffin and “deepsea anglerfish.” Coupled to big, bright nature photos, the captions, fact boxes and short passages of narrative present accurate, basic information about size, range, diet, common habitat, physical characteristics and even sounds in simply phrased, easily digestible morsels printed in several sizes and weights of type. The author uses several reinforcement techniques to help readers retain what they’ve learned. She repeats terms like “sessile” and “phytoplankton” that were defined in context earlier and asks questions that draw connections or spark reflection: “What is the tiniest kind of food that you eat?” Moreover, she closes with a spread of enrichment activities, a couple of websites for further information and an easy review quiz. Substantial but never heavy, this is likely to float to the top of any young naturalist’s reading list. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4263-1368-4

Page Count: 128

Publisher: National Geographic

Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

- BOOK REVIEW
WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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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)