Share with your favorite future astronauts.
A girl sees a brightly burning star in the night sky and is curious, but she becomes concerned when she learns that the star is dying.
Enamored by a bright shining star she learns is a supernova, the little Black girl sets out to learn everything about it she can. She asks questions about stars in school and reads books about stars. Every night she whispers to her star so that it knows it’s not alone. As time passes, she learns that her star is a blue giant, a rare sight from Earth. As a young woman, she goes to college to study stars and space, convinced that she will find a way to her star. And so she does. All grown up, the woman becomes an astronaut and authority on stars and space. She arrives in space just in time to witness her star fade to darkness and then burst into more bright, shining stars. Based on a conversation the author had with her son, this book celebrates a child’s curiosity and compassion. Though not based entirely on scientific facts, this book will stand up as an introduction to space and stars for very young readers. Harrison’s dreamy, blue-toned illustrations are a hit; front and rear endpaper illustrations artfully attest to the protagonist’s lifelong interest in space. The author’s note discusses the book’s inspiration. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Share with your favorite future astronauts. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45175-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard.
A grouchy sapling on a Christmas tree farm finds that there are better things than lights and decorations for its branches.
A Grinch among the other trees on the farm is determined never to become a sappy Christmas tree—and never to leave its spot. Its determination makes it so: It grows gnarled and twisted and needle-less. As time passes, the farm is swallowed by the suburbs. The neighborhood kids dare one another to climb the scary, grumpy-looking tree, and soon, they are using its branches for their imaginative play, the tree serving as a pirate ship, a fort, a spaceship, and a dragon. But in winter, the tree stands alone and feels bereft and lonely for the first time ever, and it can’t look away from the decorated tree inside the house next to its lot. When some parents threaten to cut the “horrible” tree down, the tree thinks, “Not now that my limbs are full of happy children,” showing how far it has come. Happily for the tree, the children won’t give up so easily, and though the tree never wished to become a Christmas tree, it’s perfectly content being a “trick or tree.” Martinez’s digital illustrations play up the humorous dichotomy between the happy, aspiring Christmas trees (and their shoppers) and the grumpy tree, and the diverse humans are satisfyingly expressive.
Just the thing for anyone with a Grinch-y tree of their own in the yard. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7335-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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