Unsubtle empowerment for young environmentalists.
Almost–fourth-grader Cricket and her friends have a second adventure learning about, and helping, wildlife in Waterton (Ospreys in Danger, 2014).
From the start, readers are immersed in Cricket’s life as the daughter of a Canadian wildlife ranger: Dad lets Cricket ride with him to the scene of a “bear jam,” a traffic snarl caused by tourists gaping at a bear. It is close to the migration time of two-toed salamanders, and Cricket learns from a scientist that the creature’s population has been shrinking. Can Cricket and her friends help? The text’s simplicity is on target for beginning readers. Throughout the 10 short chapters—each headed by a sketch of an endearing-looking salamander—didactic conversations and experiences provide facts about bears, cats, deer, orcas, and especially Alberta’s two salamander species. The information is sound, but contrasting attempts at realistic conversation and especially at humor feel forced. The black-and-white pencil art is detailed and attractive, but it confirms the characters’ lack of diversity—faces are white, even in crowd scenes. The fact that the scientist studying the two-toed salamanders is a woman is almost a blow to feminism, since it is Cricket’s brother who figures out an invention to help the struggling creatures and then Cricket and her friends who manage to raise funds for the endeavor. Still, simple, accurate descriptions of specific research methods and of salamander features shine.
Unsubtle empowerment for young environmentalists. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: April 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1123-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
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