Unfocused but nevertheless gifted with bold visuals and a beguiling sense of appreciation for nature’s beauties.
Imported from Germany, an album of mountains, with tributes to those who scale them, portraits of flora and fauna that live on them, and related topics.
As Braun covers his subject in no very systematic way and often wanders some distance off course, it’s his faceted, vividly hued landscapes and figures that will (as in Wild Animals of the North and Wild Animals of the South, 2016 and 2017) be the main draw. In between soaring portraits of 20 tall or otherwise renowned peaks and rocky formations, he intersperses wildlife portraits—the snow leopard being particularly magnificent—along with equipment layouts for climbers and for skiers. He also ventures down into caves and across the Gobi Desert, pausing to admire several scenic wonders from Antarctic icebergs to mountain sculptures including Petra, Mount Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse Memorial. To give a sense of scale he places the Eiffel Tower and Great Pyramid next to Uluru in one scene and, just for fun, in another slips in a pair of hulking yeti. The accompanying notes are likewise scattershot, offering nuggets of information that can feel arbitrary. Aside from stately Maasai and Aboriginal men in ceremonial dress and quick nods to renowned mountaineers Edmund Hilary, Tenzing Norgay, and Reinhold Messner, human figures are too stylized to detect their ethnicities.
Unfocused but nevertheless gifted with bold visuals and a beguiling sense of appreciation for nature’s beauties. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-11)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-912497-94-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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