Inspiring, if agenda driven, and serviceable as a companion or alternative to Heather Lang’s Swimming with Sharks,...
A tribute to the courage and indomitable will of the renowned ichthyologist.
This eloquent profile follows Clark from a childhood visit to an aquarium through her demonstration that sharks can actually be trained and so are not “mindless killers” as widely supposed. Throughout, Keating highlights the stubborn tenacity with which she shrugged off the pressure to “Be a secretary! Be a housewife!” and followed a dream “as big as a whale shark.” Over the course of her career, she discovered several new species of fish (the Red Sea sand diver, the barred xenia pipefish, and the volcano triplefin) and proved that sharks “deserved to be studied,…protected,…and loved.” Keating focuses so closely on presenting her subject as a woman successfully overcoming gender obstacles that there are no references to Clark’s family, her death in 2015, or the fact that her mother was “of Japanese descent” and her father “American” (presumably white) until the timeline at the end—and the prejudice she encountered as a result of her mixed-race heritage goes unmentioned. In Miguéns’ neatly drawn illustrations, Clark and her mother display slightly East Asian facial features, and figures in crowd and classroom scenes are often people of color. The author appends a section of shark facts, along with a note detailing some of Clark’s other discoveries and accomplishments.
Inspiring, if agenda driven, and serviceable as a companion or alternative to Heather Lang’s Swimming with Sharks, illustrated by Jordi Solano (2016). (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-4204-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share.
In this latest in the series, Little Blue Truck, driven by pal Toad, is challenged to a countryside race by Racer Red, a sleek, low-slung vehicle.
Blue agrees, and the race is on. Although the two start off “hood to hood / and wheel to wheel,” they switch positions often as they speed their way over dusty country roads. Blue’s farm friends follow along to share in the excitement and shout out encouragement; adult readers will have fun voicing the various animal sounds. Short rhyming verses on each page and several strategic page turns add drama to the narrative, but soft, mottled effects in the otherwise colorful illustrations keep the competition from becoming too intense. Racer Red crosses the finish line first, but Blue is a gracious loser, happy to have worked hard. That’s a new concept for Racer Red, who’s laser-focused on victory but takes Blue’s words (“win or lose, it’s fun to try!”) to heart—a revelation that may lead to worthwhile storytime discussions. When Blue’s farm animal friends hop into the truck for the ride home, Racer Red tags along and learns a second lesson, one about speed. “Fast is fun, / and slow is too, / as long as you’re / with friends.”
A friendship tale with solid messaging and plenty of fun sounds to share. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780063387843
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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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
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