A good addition to the cat canon.
The cat-centered companion to Why Do Dogs Sniff Bottoms? (2020).
Cats have been living with humans for at least 3,500 years according to Crumpton, “cat expert” and zoologist. Crumpton posits that cats were not tamed by humans but rather “domesticated themselves” to be near humans (who often have yummy meals). Each of the 19 double-page spreads deals with a different aspect of cat life or lore, and each begins with a question. In answer to “Why do cats meow?” Crumpton explains that the sound can mean several different things. However, across the spread, readers learn that: Cats make 100 different sounds; only kittens meow at other cats while adult cats meow only to humans; Siamese are the chattiest; and Maine coon cats chitter at birds. Are cats good or bad luck? Were cats ever worshipped? On several points, they are compared to dogs (cats see red and green, unlike canines; dogs have more scent receptors, but cats can differentiate more smells). With appealingly naïve styling, Snowden-Fine’s double-page spreads offer gentle humor as cats of vastly different species, colors, and sizes interpret the text. Humans depicted are racially diverse. The tone overall is light, but the information is sound, bolstered by a closing glossary of cat vocabulary. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11.9-by-18.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 42.9% of actual size.)
A good addition to the cat canon. (index) (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-500-65238-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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
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
© 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.
