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I WOULD TEACH YOU TO FLY

Name: I WOULD TEACH YOU TO FLY
Author: Sarah Asper-Smith
ISBN: 978-1-63217-404-8

From the Animal Families series

by Sarah Asper-Smith ; illustrated by Mitchell Watley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 8, 2022

A nice link between children and their animal counterparts, though it doesn’t stand out on an already crowded shelf.

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Asper-Smith introduces children to some of the things animal parents do to care for their young, the phrase “If you were…” helping kids imagine themselves as that animal.

“If you were a Dall sheep, I would teach you to climb the steep cliffs and slopes of the mountain-side.” A few lines in a smaller font introduce a further fact, in this case, that the male’s curled horns keep growing every year. These facts can be read or not, depending on the audience’s age, though several could have used more fleshing out. For instance, one talks about an ermine’s coat changing color for winter but leaves out why. The text appropriately ends with an overhead view of a child and adult sharing a book. While the text here—“Because I love you, I will teach you many ways to live in this world”—would better match a book about lessons applicable to both animal and human offspring, it gets to the point that it’s important to know about other species sharing our world. Watley’s gorgeous, realistic-looking spreads immerse children in each animal’s habitat—the Arctic bumblebee is shown up-close on a flower, and the coyotes are appropriately shown at night—and make clear any obvious differences between the adults and offspring (the spotted seal and bald eagle, for example), though not all are easy to differentiate. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A nice link between children and their animal counterparts, though it doesn’t stand out on an already crowded shelf. (Informational picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-63217-404-8

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
YOU ARE HOME WITH ME
by Sarah Asper-Smith ; illustrated by Mitchell Watley

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FIND MOMO EVERYWHERE

From the Find Momo series , Vol. 7

by Andrew Knapp ; illustrated by Andrew Knapp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024

A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
LET'S FIND MOMO!
by Andrew Knapp ; photographed by Andrew Knapp

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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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)