An interesting exploration of animal intelligence for budding zoologists, so long as they take the anthropomorphization with...
Orangutan Fu Manchu makes a monkey out of his zookeepers.
Twelve-year-old orangutan Fu Manchu lives with his family group in a zoo enclosure. After obtaining a length of wire, he figures out how to pick the lock on the door. He lets his family out, and they climb the trees above the elephant corral to enjoy the sun and the leaves. Their afternoon siesta doesn’t last long. Jerry, the head zookeeper, blames his staff for leaving the door unlocked and then returns Fu and his family to the enclosure. The next nice day, they escape again. Jerry and his staff double-check the locks, but Fu has his secret piece of wire. He can escape whenever he wants to, and he does. Jerry continues to blame his staff until they band together and catch Fu using something to pick the lock. But what is it? They can’t find anything he might have used in his pen…until Jerry spies a glint of metal in Fu’s mouth. Neme’s debut for children is based on a true story and a real ape, though she says in an author’s note that some details are speculation—not the least of which are Fu’s thoughts and motivations. Kelleher’s watercolors are realistic enough with a few cartoon touches: A panicked chipmunk and pigeon observe Fu’s initial escape.
An interesting exploration of animal intelligence for budding zoologists, so long as they take the anthropomorphization with a grain of salt. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59373-153-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Bunker Hill
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.
Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?
Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.
An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9780316564526
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
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