A whitewashed account that gravely misleads readers.
A sidebar to a true story of fox-domestication experiments in Siberia is presented in this picture book.
For 60 years, Russian scientist and co-author Trut has been involved in the genetic experimentation on the domestication of foxes, and this picture book tells a story of her relationship with one particular fox named Pushinka. Pushinka lived in “Lyudmila’s” home in Siberia, as did her pups after they were born. Dugatkin and Trut’s feel-good story (accompanied by uninspired photos that trot along in a predictable manner) omits the less-uplifting facts. The majority of the foxes used in the domestication experiment live in small wire cages in sheds, and each year the friendliest, as determined by human-administered tests, are selected to breed. The ones not selected are sold to fur farms to become pelts. In addition to selectively breeding foxes for friendliness, Trut also selects and breeds the most aggressive foxes to create hyperaggression in order to study the biology of domestication. Perhaps the most egregious misrepresentation, though, is the schmaltzy attribution of Pushinka’s domesticated behavior toward Trut as the result of love. One day Pushinka barks to warn Trut of an intruder: “Foxes DON’T bark! But love, you see, changes us”—an assertion that ignores the very science that created Pushinka’s behavior: the product of decades of selected breeding, not love. Also, foxes do bark.
A whitewashed account that gravely misleads readers. (additional information) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943978-46-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Persnickety Press
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet and endearing feathered migration.
A relationship between a Latina grandmother and her mixed-race granddaughter serves as the frame to depict the ruby-throated hummingbird migration pattern.
In Granny’s lap, a girl is encouraged to “keep still” as the intergenerational pair awaits the ruby-throated hummingbirds with bowls of water in their hands. But like the granddaughter, the tz’unun—“the word for hummingbird in several [Latin American] languages”—must soon fly north. Over the next several double-page spreads, readers follow the ruby-throated hummingbird’s migration pattern from Central America and Mexico through the United States all the way to Canada. Davies metaphorically reunites the granddaughter and grandmother when “a visitor from Granny’s garden” crosses paths with the girl in New York City. Ray provides delicately hashed lines in the illustrations that bring the hummingbirds’ erratic flight pattern to life as they travel north. The watercolor palette is injected with vibrancy by the addition of gold ink, mirroring the hummingbirds’ flashing feathers in the slants of light. The story is supplemented by notes on different pages with facts about the birds such as their nest size, diet, and flight schedule. In addition, a note about ruby-throated hummingbirds supplies readers with detailed information on how ornithologists study and keep track of these birds.
A sweet and endearing feathered migration. (bibliography, index) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5362-0538-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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