Appealing poetry and cogent science writing combine for a unique take on the ever-captivating rainbow.
Augmented by sidebars with science facts, 22 poems explore rainbows in nature.
Esenwine contributes five poems, while veteran writers including Janet Wong and Nikki Grimes deliver others. The entries are organized into five sections. “Rainbows of Light” covers several examples of refraction, from a post-storm rainbow to a child’s collection of prismatic crystals. Another section, “Rainbow Waters,” examines four bodies of water and the reasons for their unique colors. Three of them—two of Yellowstone National Park’s hot springs and the Fly Geyser in Nevada—are examples of nature’s response to the often-devastating impact of human interference. David L. Harrison eulogizes the captivating blue of Yellowstone’s Morning Glory Pool as it yields to bacterial damage from human-tossed coins, rocks, and garbage. The section “Living Rainbows” collects nine poems focusing on plants and animals whose plumage, petals, exoskeletons, scales, wings, and peeling bark variously exhibit brilliant, surprising colors. The entries in the fourth section, “Rainbows of Rock,” examine mountains and caves, while a single, lovely poem by Georgia Heard comprises the concluding “Rainbows Beyond.” Heard marvels at the “celestial nursery” forming within Betelgeuse’s brilliantly hued swirl of dust and gases, “a blooming bouquet / light years away.” The information in the insightful sidebars is well explained, while Christoph’s illustrations deftly capture actual and imagined landscapes, depicting diverse humans and alternating pastel compositions with saturated color-scapes.
Appealing poetry and cogent science writing combine for a unique take on the ever-captivating rainbow. (recommended resources, glossary) (Informational picture book/poetry. 6-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780802855718
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
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
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
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