Cold comfort to know we are the not the only environmentally destructive hooligans in the universe.
On distant planet Gala, many Galinos have a bad case of wastefulness. Sound familiar?
Like any planet worth its salt, Gala has a nice variety of kids: some with one eye, or two, or three, or two heads, or a head like a hand. Amavisca has created an everyday gang of ragamuffins who like to eat candy bars, play with computers, and make a mess. One day they unearth—maybe that’s ungala—an oracular computer by the name of Galalpha 8 (computers are alive on Gala). Galalpha foretells of Gala’s environmental ruination: their galamobiles (cars) spew pollution, as do their galactories, killing the galatrees and drying up the galakes. Tierki and Kurti take Galalpha 8’s dire warning to heart, although their friends don’t give a hoot. “Several years went by, but all seven friends still looked the same. (The secret is that Galinos stop growing when they reach seven years old!!)” Villamuza’s artwork also has a childlike quality, about in the 7-year-old range. The Galinos lose any distinctive appeal—there is little—when they turn out to be little but earthling clones in Halloween gear. They even like toilet jokes: “Every time she went to the bathroom to poo, she would clean her gala-butt with tons and tons of toilet paper.” Tierki and Kurti decide on a plan: they’ll put all their filthmongering friends on a spaceship and send them to the only other self-destructive planet in the universe: Earth. How subtle.
Cold comfort to know we are the not the only environmentally destructive hooligans in the universe. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-84-942360-5-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre.
Ice princess Lina must navigate family and school in this early chapter read.
The family picnic is today. This is not a typical gathering, since Lina’s maternal relatives are a royal family of Windtamers who have power over the weather and live in castles floating on clouds. Lina herself is mixed race, with black hair and a tan complexion like her Asian-presenting mother’s; her Groundling father appears to be a white human. While making a grand entrance at the castle of her grandfather, the North Wind, she fails to successfully ride a gust of wind and crashes in front of her entire family. This prompts her stern grandfather to ask that Lina move in with him so he can teach her to control her powers. Desperate to avoid this, Lina and her friend Claudia, who is black, get Lina accepted at the Hilltop Science and Arts Academy. Lina’s parents allow her to go as long as she does lessons with grandpa on Saturdays. However, fitting in at a Groundling school is rough, especially when your powers start freak winter storms! With the story unfurling in diary format, bright-pink–highlighted grayscale illustrations help move the plot along. There are slight gaps in the storytelling and the pacing is occasionally uneven, but Lina is full of spunk and promotes self-acceptance.
A jam-packed opener sure to satisfy lovers of the princess genre. (Fantasy. 5-8)Pub Date: June 25, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-35393-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
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