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LIFE AT THE ZOO

Name: LIFE AT THE ZOO
Author: Michael George
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3089-1

by Michael George ; illustrated by Michael George ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 2018

Engaging encounters with a variety of animals and the humans who intimately interact with them.

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A behind-the-scenes look at zoo animals, large and small, and their keepers.

Filled with appealing, occasionally dramatic photos taken at eight zoos in the U.S. and Germany (including a boarding school in New York State that houses its own zoo), this informative book is divided into thematic two-page spreads on subjects including baby animals, behavioral development, training, and medicine. Each section features one or two specific animals, often named and pictured, to personalize the narrative. In a spread headed “Where Do Zoo Babies Come from?” it is noted that although walrus “Ginger was born in captivity to her parents Garfield and Kaboodle” (the names of some animals will be a source of amusement), her new friend Aku “was found by gold miners in Alaska, separated from his mother and desperately in need of food and water” and transported to Orlando by a rescue team. The author uses this story to counter the opinion that people “fear animals are stolen from the wild” and taken to zoos. The animal workers for the most part present white. Throughout the book, there is an emphasis on the skills and caring attitudes of the various zoo staff members, which may have readers wishing for information on preparation for these various jobs. Issues concerning climate change, conservation, and endangered species (all defined in the glossary) are briefly mentioned.

Engaging encounters with a variety of animals and the humans who intimately interact with them. (Nonfiction. 8-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-4549-3089-1

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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1001 BEES

by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 BIRDS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 ANTS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

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YOUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE

by Jason Chin ; illustrated by Jason Chin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2020

A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts.

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From a Caldecott and Sibert honoree, an invitation to take a mind-expanding journey from the surface of our planet to the furthest reaches of the observable cosmos.

Though Chin’s assumption that we are even capable of understanding the scope of the universe is quixotic at best, he does effectively lead viewers on a journey that captures a sense of its scale. Following the model of Kees Boeke’s classic Cosmic View: The Universe in Forty Jumps (1957), he starts with four 8-year-old sky watchers of average height (and different racial presentations). They peer into a telescope and then are comically startled by the sudden arrival of an ostrich that is twice as tall…and then a giraffe that is over twice as tall as that…and going onward and upward, with ellipses at each page turn connecting the stages, past our atmosphere and solar system to the cosmic web of galactic superclusters. As he goes, precisely drawn earthly figures and features in the expansive illustrations give way to ever smaller celestial bodies and finally to glimmering swirls of distant lights against gulfs of deep black before ultimately returning to his starting place. A closing recap adds smaller images and additional details. Accompanying the spare narrative, valuable side notes supply specific lengths or distances and define their units of measure, accurately explain astronomical phenomena, and close with the provocative observation that “the observable universe is centered on us, but we are not in the center of the entire universe.”

A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts. (afterword, websites, further reading) (Informational picture book. 8-10)