A timely invitation to participate in raising energy consciousness.
Once a year, all over the world, people celebrate the electricity we use in our daily lives by turning off lights in homes, offices, and famous monuments for a single Earth Hour.
In time for next spring’s Earth Hour, March 29, 2020, this admirable debut offers both the what and the why. Luu’s cheery illustrations emphasize the worldwide nature of this event. The book begins with vignettes: examples of electricity use, including cozy home scenes, city streets, and the lit-up Earth as seen from space. Next, full pages and double-page spreads show illuminated buildings, cities, and internationally recognizable monuments at night. The scenes then move to the interior: bathtime, family games, and lights out. The international scenes reappear, without artificial light. The next to the last spread shows a single sleeping child (echoing Clement Hurd’s “great, green room”); the final one shows people of many colors and ethnicities (one using a wheelchair) carrying candles and lanterns on a starlit night: “Alone we are one… // …but together we have power. / United, we are Earth Hour.” Heffernan’s simple narrative runs across the pages, tying the story together. Her author’s note recalls her surprise at seeing San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge go suddenly dark in honor of Earth Hour a few years ago, and a short final note connects energy use to global climate change.
A timely invitation to participate in raising energy consciousness. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-58089-942-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Pass.
The traditions and history of one of Mexico’s most important holidays are introduced in this latest of Eliot’s Celebrate the World series.
From setting up the flower-festooned altars to decorating the calaveras, the preparations depicted involve entire communities over several weeks. Characters in cowboy hats, sombreros, and baseball caps place the final touches on skeletons in full lucha libre regalia or spangled mariachi outfits. However, instead of accurately using Mexico’s name for the holiday, Día de Muertos, Eliot uses the English back-translation, “Día de los Muertos,” as is common in the U.S. even though the story evidently takes place in Mexico. Also, aside from stating that the celebration “is an ancient tradition,” there is no mention of its Indigenous, pre-European/Christian roots nor does the book actively distinguish between Día de Muertos and Halloween. The first-person narration vacillates between child and adult perspectives. “We do all this to celebrate the beauty of life and death rather than mourn it.” Gutierrez’s mixed-media illustrations are convulsive, crowded panes of frenetic activity. Exaggerated facial features border on stereotypical caricatures—snouts and bug eyes abound. Contributing to the crowded page design is the unfortunate choice of board rather than picture-book format. Consequently, the initial perception is that this series is geared toward toddlers, when it is the school-age child who would most benefit from the information in this book.
Pass. (Board book. 4-7)Pub Date: July 24, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1515-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
