A sweet, enjoyable book about an intriguing animal.
Welcome to the world of this endearing Australian marsupial.
Young readers will learn lots about koalas from zoologist Daniels’ lively, fact-packed, well-organized field guide. Koalas are cuddly and adorable, and they’re fascinating, complex, and, sadly, endangered as well. From the beginning, the book casts readers in the role of an animal scientist, instructing them in such important matters as the equipment actual koala experts employ to locate and study the creatures in the wild. Children glean essential facts about the koala, including its scientific name, mating habits and reproduction, diet, anatomy, life span, relatives, habitat, and more. Facts are clearly presented, delivered in a conversational tone, with salient information offered up on discrete pages. Additionally, children are helped to differentiate between koalas and bears, for which they are commonly mistaken, and guided to understand the numerous serious environmental threats they face. Some koala myths and legends are even included. The attractive volume features illustrations rather than photographs; koalas and other Australian animals are shown in realistic settings, with text and images set against colored backgrounds. This installment in the Young Zoologist series will be a welcome addition in public and school libraries and will win fans among appreciative animal-loving casual browsers as well as report writers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sweet, enjoyable book about an intriguing animal. (glossary, index) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-68449-283-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Neon Squid/Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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