Inspiring fare for the next generation of world savers…and their younger sibs.
An international gallery of young eco-activists, assembled to demonstrate that it’s never too soon to get going.
Except for a group of unnamed Chinese children who set up an “ecological field” near their school to demonstrate water-conservation strategies, all of the entries here focus on the initiatives of specific individuals. These youngsters range from tree planters, like 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner of Germany and 12-year-old Adeline Tiffanie Suwana of Indonesia, to Brooklyn “Earth Saver Girl” Wright of Atlanta, Georgia, an African American child who dresses as a costumed superhero and created an eco-comic at age 7. (Greta Thunberg presumably is well known enough not to be included.) Each is shown hard at work, usually lecturing or leading racially diverse groups of recruits in planting, composting, picking up litter, or recycling. Lirius depicts South African Hunter Mitchell snuggling up to a baby rhino and New Yorker Jordan Salama (both appear White) handing a banana to an orangutan in the wild…experiences that most young audiences are unlikely to have. Still, along with depicting plenty of rather more feasible eco-activities, the illustrations are strewn with undulating lines of helpful descriptive notes and cogent warnings about the consequences of destructive practices, from air and water pollution to poaching. Kirby also lays out credibly doable suggestions at the end, plus a list of relevant, child-friendly websites. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.)
Inspiring fare for the next generation of world savers…and their younger sibs. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4914-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magic Cat
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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