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INSECTS

Informative and appealing—but flawed.

A photo essay invites young readers to explore the world of insects.

Master science writer Simon knows how to craft nonfiction, choosing interesting topics, appropriate examples, and just the right level of information for elementary school readers. His newest title is no exception. Well-organized, lucid descriptions include the characteristics of insects, their body parts, life stages, size, numbers, history, and sensory equipment. He goes into further detail about five common orders: Coleoptera (beetles), Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets), Hymenoptera (bees and wasps), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), and Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). He describes other insects that stand out—strangest, most beautiful, fastest, heaviest, longest, and smallest—and concludes with the importance of insects in the world. Carefully chosen and beautifully reproduced photographs (most from Shutterstock) appear on each page. Vocabulary that might be unfamiliar is printed in boldface and defined in a glossary. Alas, in this otherwise splendid introduction, the author says “Butterflies and moths are similar in these ways:...Larvae form cocoons during the pupa stage before they emerge as adults.” This is not true of most butterflies, which protect themselves as pupae with chrysalises. Scientists and teachers have been working to correct this common misconception, and young readers who know something about insects will recognize the mistake. (Indeed, the caption on the facing page says, “Butterfly emerges from chrysalis.”

Informative and appealing—but flawed. (index, websites) (Nonfiction. 6-10)

Pub Date: July 5, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-228915-5

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016

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ADA TWIST AND THE PERILOUS PANTS

From the Questioneers series , Vol. 2

Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.

Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.

Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.

Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)

Pub Date: April 16, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019

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A SNOW DAY FOR PLUM!

Lively fun with animal friends.

Has Plum’s pep deserted him?

Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.

Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)

Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023

ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

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