A clear, well-organized presentation likely to make readers and listeners want to know more about the “Shark Lady” and her...
Fascinated with sharks from childhood, Eugenie Clark spent a lifetime researching these “magnificent and misunderstood” creatures.
At a time when women were discouraged from even entering professional fields, Eugenie Clark (1922-2015) pioneered shark research in and out of the water. She swam with sharks of all sorts. She opened the Cape Haze Marine Laboratory (now Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium) in Florida and proved that they could be trained. She dove into caves to see fearsome requiem sharks quietly being cleaned by tiny remora fish. Lang’s welcome picture-book biography introduces a trailblazing female scientist to very young readers and listeners. She demonstrates young Genie’s early passion by describing her weekly visits to the New York Aquarium, her childhood apartment full of fish and reptiles, and her habit of taking notes. She goes on to summarize a long, productive career with a few well-chosen examples. Her story is nicely rounded in text and illustrations with scenes showing Clark with her nose against the glass in the New York Aquarium as a child and from a submersible as an adult. Solano’s illustrations, mostly double-page spreads, emphasize the darkness and mystery of the underwater world; occasionally they include faux notebook pages with simple facts about the species. The prejudice Clark experienced as a Japanese-American is revealed only in the author’s note, however.
A clear, well-organized presentation likely to make readers and listeners want to know more about the “Shark Lady” and her favorite creatures. (more about sharks, selected sources) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8075-2187-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among
Pete, the cat who couldn’t care less, celebrates Christmas with his inimitable lassitude.
If it weren’t part of the title and repeated on every other page, readers unfamiliar with Pete’s shtick might have a hard time arriving at “groovy” to describe his Christmas celebration, as the expressionless cat displays not a hint of groove in Dean’s now-trademark illustrations. Nor does Pete have a great sense of scansion: “On the first day of Christmas, / Pete gave to me… / A road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” The cat is shown at the wheel of a yellow microbus strung with garland and lights and with a star-topped tree tied to its roof. On the second day of Christmas Pete gives “me” (here depicted as a gray squirrel who gets on the bus) “2 fuzzy gloves, and a road trip to the sea. / GROOVY!” On the third day, he gives “me” (now a white cat who joins Pete and the squirrel) “3 yummy cupcakes,” etc. The “me” mentioned in the lyrics changes from day to day and gift to gift, with “4 far-out surfboards” (a frog), “5 onion rings” (crocodile), and “6 skateboards rolling” (a yellow bird that shares its skateboards with the white cat, the squirrel, the frog, and the crocodile while Pete drives on). Gifts and animals pile on until the microbus finally arrives at the seaside and readers are told yet again that it’s all “GROOVY!”
Pete’s fans might find it groovy; anyone else has plenty of other “12 Days of Christmas” variants to choose among . (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-267527-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.
Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60060-898-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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