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 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 Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be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
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
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