Another solid addition to Holland’s series.
Holland’s latest in the Animal Anatomy and Adaptations series looks at how animals use their noses.
Noses in the animal kingdom are used for more than just smelling and breathing: They are also useful for finding food and mates, avoiding predators, and navigating. A star-nosed mole wiggles the feelers on its nose to locate earthworms underground; a frog can find its home by smell; and a snake collects particles on its tongue and uses the Jacobson’s organ on the roof of its mouth to identify the smells. A wide range of animals is presented here, not all of them with true noses, which the author points out. For instance, birds breathe and smell through nostrils just above their beaks (different species’ senses of smell vary), and insects breathe through spiricles and smell with antennae. Some facts will amaze: Polar bears can smell seals through 3 feet of ice, and beavers’ noses close when underwater. Backmatter includes an explanation of the sense of smell (written at a significantly higher reading level than the primary text), more fun facts, and two matching/identify activities. As with Holland’s previous examinations of animals’ parts, the close-up photos are the main attraction. Vocabulary is defined in the text, which is mainly written for younger readers, with questions to get them engaged, shorter sentences, and simple vocabulary (“peeing and pooping”).
Another solid addition to Holland’s series. (Nonfiction. 3-9)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-60718-805-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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