An excellent story, well told. You’ll remember it always.
A look at the friendship between a conservationist and the elephant herd he rescues.
When the elephants need to be relocated as a result of their destructive wanderings, Lawrence Anthony knows that if he does not take the herd to Thula Thula, his animal reserve in Zululand, South Africa, the animals risk being killed by poachers. Two elephants—the matriarch and her calf—were killed during their capture, and Lawrence struggles to gain the animals’ trust and ensure their safety and well-being. Slowly, he succeeds, and his initially uneasy relationship with new matriarch Nana develops into a lasting bond; even after Lawrence tries to distance himself from the elephants, granting them their independence, the elephants never forget him, and on his death, they come to his house, seemingly to mourn him. This is a compelling true story that will leave readers on the edges of their seats. O’Connell’s text is supplemented with backmatter that includes information, in question-and-answer format, about elephants, Lawrence Anthony, and Thula Thula as well as an author’s note and a list of additional resources. Acrylic illustrations capture Nana’s anger and mistrust of humans and Lawrence’s patience with the herd. Librarians and educators should prepare for a rush of elephant-related questions once this book hits the shelves, and caregivers may find themselves equally fascinated by this heartbreaking story of trust, survival, and loss. Lawrence is White. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An excellent story, well told. You’ll remember it always. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-88448-928-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
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