Wonderful.
A collection of international animals is concealed in a series of complex pictures. Search and find!
Hutchinson proposes taking readers on a trip around the world. He separates the Earth into seven regions. For each, there is first an overview of the topography and climate as well as short descriptions of the many animals indigenous to the region. Then, a double-page spread features a pair of challenges. On the left (taking up about one-quarter of the area), several animals are depicted clearly against white space. A wide, striking, and complex monochromatic cut-paper illustration of a typical habitat fills the rest, dizzying readers with the interaction between negative and positive space. Readers are challenged to find both animals from the left sidebar and additional ones according to specific directions. The African animals feature some with horns. Some of the Asian animals use their front legs like arms. Europe boasts a wide variety of birds. Many animals in the polar regions lay eggs. A lot of the animals in South America are denizens of the rain forest. The duck-billed platypus is not the only “Australasian” animal with a bill. A final page includes a fun fact about each of the seven regions (one is that there are 61 Australasian animals with bills). Hutchinson succeeds beautifully in making learning fun. Dennis’ distinctive cut-paper illustrations are suitable for framing and intricate enough to reward repeat viewing. Each of the seven regions is depicted in a different color.
Wonderful. (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61689-626-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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