Young wildlife lovers will embrace this intriguing rehabilitation account.
An injured squirrel develops a close relationship with the retired doctor who helps him in this debut nonfiction picture book that features rhymes.
On a day when “the man” was busy hurrying through a huge to-do list, he noticed an incapacitated squirrel, who crawled onto his boot. An animal lover and retired physician, the man decided to care for the squirrel, whom he named Pepito, and nurse him back to health. After trying a bunch of foods and discovering Pepito liked pineapple best, the new wildlife rehabilitator examined the squirrel’s legs, concluding that the animal injured a nerve. The man built a “contraption, of wire and rope, / It was like a cone, with a minor slope!” so that Pepito could perform physical therapy in the retiree’s house. Once Pepito started feeling better, he escaped from his plastic bin and hid in the dust collector, and the man and his partner had to find him. Soon, Pepito recovered enough to return to nature, but he remained loyal to the man who nurtured him. Erebia convincingly parallels the squirrel’s rehabilitation with the man’s own sense of slowing down, taking time to appreciate nature rather than rushing from task to task. While the rhyming pairs are sometimes wordy—or convoluted—the meaning comes through clearly. The author’s edited photographs focus on Pepito, with textures adjusted to feel almost painterly, giving an artistic twist to a realistic story.
Young wildlife lovers will embrace this intriguing rehabilitation account.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73608-580-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feworks
Review Posted Online: April 14, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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