Appealing arboreal fantasy.
As Beatrice stalls her bedtime, readers learn rudimentary facts about trees.
In the opening double-page spread, the titular girl, clad in overalls, hangs upside down from a tree branch. Purplish hair hangs beneath her pale, oversized face; her blue-gray irises point across the page’s gutter. Beatrice is surrounded by a nighttime scene: stars in the dark blue sky, a yellow crescent moon hanging over a lit-from-within house in the recto’s background. In white capital letters, a sound balloon from the house exhorts, “Beatrice, time for bed!” After the page turn, Beatrice is on the ground, her disgruntled facial expression and body language humorously familiar to all. She mutters that if she were a tree, she could “stay outside all night long.” In the next double-page spread, her expression changes to wonder as she imagines herself sprouting twigs and leaves. Soon, she is fantasizing about her life as a tree, first into the next day and then through the seasons. Her face cleverly fades into a tree’s overstory as the pages of colorful artwork—punctuated with short bursts of text and plenty of endearing animals—move toward the inevitable conclusion to her fantasy. After Beatrice’s second warning, her expression is again fun to behold, and a hint of subversion in the final, wordless page adds satisfaction. Additional pages contribute a few more botanical facts, but the story itself naturally segues into naptime or bedtime. Bonus: endpapers with labeled leaves. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.5-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Appealing arboreal fantasy. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-274126-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed.
This book presents a simplified explanation of the role the atmosphere plays in controlling climate.
The authors present a planet as a ball and its atmosphere as a blanket that envelops the ball. If the blanket is thick, the planet will be hot, as is the case for Venus. If the blanket is thin, the planet is cold, as with Mars. Planet Earth has a blanket that traps “just the right amount of heat.” The authors explain trees, animals, and oceans are part of what makes Earth’s atmosphere “just right.” “But…Uh-oh! People on Earth are changing the blanket!” The book goes on to explain how some human activities are sending “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere, thus “making the blanket heavier and thicker” and “making Earth feel unwell.” In the case of a planet feeling unwell, what would the symptoms be? Sea-level rises that lead to erosion, flooding, and island loss, along with extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, blizzards, and wildfires. Ending on a constructive note, the authors name a few of the remedies to “help our Earth before it’s too late!” By using the blanket analogy, alongside simple and clear illustrations, this otherwise complex topic becomes very accessible to young children, though caregivers will need to help with the specialized vocabulary.
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8082-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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