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SOAR HIGH, DRAGONFLY

Name: SOAR HIGH, DRAGONFLY
Author: Sheri Mabry Bestor
ISBN: 978-1-58536-410-7

by Sheri Mabry Bestor ; illustrated by Jonny Lambert ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2019

Dynamic colors and textual versatility make for a quality nonfiction read.

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A circular account of a dragonfly’s life span told simultaneously as a narrative and a collection of scientific facts.

The creative duo behind Good Trick, Walking Stick (2016) returns to the insect world. Readers follow the life cycle of a green darner dragonfly, from its mother laying eggs to fertilizing its own before leaving to “find warmer days” elsewhere. The primary text, set in a relatively large font, relates the development of a particular dragonfly in a preschool-friendly manner with simple sentences, sound effects, and a rhythmic refrain—“Oh my, a baby dragonfly!”—that varies the first few syllables with each repetition. Supplementary text is in smaller, multicolored type and gives a factual description of the species, complete with vocabulary definitions and fourth wall–breaking questions to encourage inquisitive thought: “Do you think that the nymph looks like a dragonfly?” Blocks of this text are tucked into the corners of spreads, so younger readers can choose to skim them over while older or inquisitive readers can learn more about the natural world. Unfortunately, there is no informative backmatter to further help them on their way. Lambert places marbled colors à la Eric Carle against a plain, mostly white background. The result is a rich vibrancy that makes the book and its insect protagonist delightfully attractive.

Dynamic colors and textual versatility make for a quality nonfiction read. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: March 15, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-58536-410-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
LIGHT THE SKY, FIREFLY
by Sheri Mabry Bestor ; illustrated by Jonny Lambert

- BOOK REVIEW
GOOD TRICK, WALKING STICK
by Sheri Mabry Bestor ; illustrated by Jonny Lambert

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 11, 2023

ISBN: 9781728271170

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

- BOOK REVIEW
WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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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)