A refreshingly original exploration of a physical process both common and important in the natural world.
Plants and animals have many different ways to enter dormancy, using minimal energy when weather extremes or seasonal changes require a pause.
Many books for young children address the concept of hibernation, but Atkins develops the concept further, introducing the many different forms dormancy takes. Her simple, second-person text asks readers to imagine being a tree, ladybug, Arctic ground squirrel, chickadee, or alligator in cold weather or an earthworm in a drought. She describes the situation that leads to a timeout, repeating the line, “You would pause,” then tells what happens next: Leaves unfurl, ladybugs “wiggle awake,” ground squirrels’ heartbeats “quicken,” chickadees fly, alligators come out to sun themselves, and earthworms “moisten [their] skin…and squirm.” She makes clear that this resting state may last anywhere from a few hours to a season. Large, close-up photographs from various sources show the trees and animals and the weather conditions that prompt these activities. Helpful backmatter explains the different forms of dormancy, including diapause, hibernation, torpor, brumation, and estivation, for older readers. Here, the author gives further detail about dormancy in volcanoes as well as seeds and deciduous trees, and she mentions that, contrary to popular knowledge, some scientists use the word “torpor” to describe bears in winter. The attractive design uses display type to highlight the action words.
A refreshingly original exploration of a physical process both common and important in the natural world. (further reading, photo acknowledgments) (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-6192-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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
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