A magical story for budding scientists.
A Latine ocean enthusiast gets the surprise of a lifetime in this tale from Márquez, a Puerto Rican shark scientist committed to making STEM fields more inclusive.
As the sun sets on the beautiful Playita del Condado, Puerto Rico, Meli promises her mami that she’ll be ready to leave in just five minutes. She’s shocked when a hermit crab suddenly speaks to her. As Meli and her new friend, Jaiba, travel underwater and witness the effects of humans’ damaging impacts on the ecosystem, her interest in sharks and ocean conservation is amplified. Meli, who is brown-skinned with curly brown hair, has many questions, but when Jaiba suggests she become a scientist, she quietly muses that she hasn’t seen any who look like her. Then she and Jaiba find themselves in the audience of a lecture being delivered by a real-life scientist who resembles her. Meli observes the scientist, referred to as the Mother of Sharks, conducting research—and soon realizes that she and the scientist are one and the same. In a flash, she’s back on the beach and her five minutes are up, but her passion for science has been ignited. Readers will soak up the vividly illustrated underwater scenes alongside the important message to follow their passions; children from marginalized backgrounds will be especially heartened by Márquez’s encouraging tale. Meli and Jaiba speak English, though there’s some unitalicized Spanish throughout. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A magical story for budding scientists. (author’s note, glossary, resources, Spanish translations) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9780593523582
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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