An excellent introduction to habitats.
Several animals—including a sea horse, a camel, and a meerkat—talk in rhyming couplets about themselves and their different, respective habitats.
Large lettering on the verso of the first lush, colorful, collagelike double-page spread—this one featuring river-loving flora and fauna—proclaims: “Across the world, on land and sea, / Are creatures living wild and free. / And each one has a precious home— / A ‘habitat,’ its place to roam.” On the recto, an otter explains why it considers the river its home and then tells a little about its own characteristics. Every habitat mentioned similarly features a rhyming introduction followed by a denizen’s direct address. Scansion is perfect throughout, and the verses give accurate facts about nature—other than the poetic license that requires a golden eagle to smile for the sake of a rhyme. The layout features this bonus: a cutout window in each spread that cleverly shows an animal in one habitat that can adapt to the habitat described on the adjacent spread. These creatures receive an additional, prose gloss. River, rainforest, savanna, desert, forest, plain, mountain/evergreen forest, tundra, and ocean each receive one double-page spread of habitat glory—glorious indeed in color and layout—with predators safely distanced from prey. One caveat: The narrating animal is not always immediately obvious, so the youngest viewers will need adult help in animal identification. Endnotes urge protection of ecosystems.
An excellent introduction to habitats. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68010-104-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
So rocket science can be fun.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If they haven’t already thought about their futures (and they probably haven’t), toddlers and preschoolers might start planning after perusing this cheerful first guide to scientific careers. Plump-cheeked, wide-eyed tykes with various skin and hair colors introduce different professions, including zoologist, meteorologist, aerospace engineer, and environmental scientist, depicted with cues to tip readers off to what the jobs entail. The simple text presents the sometimes-long, tongue-twisting career names while helpfully defining them in comprehensible terms. For example, an environmental scientist “helps take care of our world,” and a zoologist is defined as someone who “studies how animals behave.” Scientists in general are identified as those who “study, learn, and solve problems.” Such basic language not only benefits youngsters, but also offers adults sharing the book easy vocabulary with which to expand on conversations with kids about the professions. The title’s ebullient appearance is helped along by the typography: The jobs’ names are set in all caps, printed in color and in a larger font than the surrounding text, and emphasized with exclamation points. Additionally, the buoyant watercolors feature clues to what scientists in these fields work with, such as celestial bodies for astronomers. The youngest listeners won’t necessarily get all of this, but the book works as a rudimentary introduction to STEM topics and a shoutout to scientific endeavors.
So rocket science can be fun. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62354-149-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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