Easily digestible, if not particularly nutritious.
Davies (Talk, Talk, Squawk!, 2011) rips viciously into another popular topic with this gallery of animals “decked out for killing”—from tiny venomous spiders to big cats for whom humans are just slow-moving “meals-on-legs.”
Dishing up appetizing facts and observations (“The pack may start to eat even before their victim is actually dead”), the author opens big with “Killer Cats,” feral canines, sharks and other carnivorous macro-creatures. Then she seats a guest list of such smaller fry as owls, snakes, “[t]eeny and [t]oxic” box jellyfish and spiders around Nature’s table, leaving room for latecomers with defense mechanisms like noxious sprays (bombardier beetle) or poison skin (puffer fish). Following delicious cautionary notes about smart and stupid human behavior around wild animals (and an off-flavored remark about the dangers of working in “poor tropical countries”), she rounds out the banquet with assorted amuse-bouches relating to the importance of predators to ecosystems and the potential uses of venoms in medical research. Layton garnishes his doodled cartoons with can’t-end-well dialogue (“here snakey, snakey…”) in balloons and occasional splashes of gore. Despite all this, all these creatures look like Twinkies next to the unmentioned microbial clan.
Easily digestible, if not particularly nutritious. (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6231-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the...
Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.
Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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