Sweet, soothing, and enlightening—ideal for youngsters’ first forays into nonfiction.
In this tale based on actual events, a baby giraffe born with a unique look stands tall.
This calf is a solid tan color, without any spots. What a momentous, rare occurrence! The zookeepers’ shocked question—”Where are her spots?”—spreads throughout the zoo as the baby giraffe takes her first steps and wobbles outside. Everyone, from the visitors to the meerkats and penguins, asks about the newcomer’s lack of spots. Bright sunlit backdrops and even brighter, large-eyed characters give no hint of maliciousness; pure curiosity fuels their chattering. Mama reassures her little one with hushed advice at the end of the day: “Grow up strong and sure. Always stand tall. Be proud of who you are.” The zoo polls the public for ideas on what to name the calf. Votes are tallied worldwide, and the zoo decides on the name Kipekee, which means unique in Swahili. Verdick’s carefully chosen text, with internal rhymes and short phrasing, gently builds in momentum as Kipekee grows, reminding readers to be proud of what sets them apart. Backmatter notes that the real-life Kipekee was born at the Brights Zoo in Limestone, Tennessee, in 2023; some readers will wish for photographs of the spotless giraffe. Human characters are diverse.
Sweet, soothing, and enlightening—ideal for youngsters’ first forays into nonfiction. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781665962025
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
A simple but effective look at a keystone species.
Sea otters are the key to healthy kelp forests on the Pacific coast of North America.
There have been several recent titles for older readers about the critical role sea otters play in the coastal Pacific ecosystem. This grand, green version presents it to even younger readers and listeners, using a two-level text and vivid illustrations. Biologist Buhrman-Deever opens as if she were telling a fairy tale: “On the Pacific coast of North America, where the ocean meets the shore, there are forests that have no trees.” The treelike forms are kelp, home to numerous creatures. Two spreads show this lush underwater jungle before its king, the sea otter, is introduced. A delicate balance allows this system to flourish, but there was a time that hunting upset this balance. The writer is careful to blame not the Indigenous peoples who had always hunted the area, but “new people.” In smaller print she explains that Russian explorations spurred the development of an international fur trade. Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance. “People do not always understand at first the changes they cause when they take too much.” Sea urchins take over; a page turn reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when hunting stops and the otters return…and with them, the kelp forests.
A simple but effective look at a keystone species. (further information, select bibliography, additional resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7636-8934-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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