An overall valuable volume with a major oversight.
Children who like animals may find a new dream job in this informational volume.
A two-page introduction describes some basic “qualities and skills for working with animals,” such as “a kind, caring personality” and “a real passion to help them.” Each successive spread then introduces one or two jobs or careers, including the familiar neighborhood veterinarian, entomologist, and pet portrait artist, via a fictional representative’s narration. Each snapshot begins with an overview of why they came to this job and how they became qualified for it, continues with their daily tasks, and notes the “best” and “worst” parts of the job. A guide at the end helps readers trace their own skills, interests, and personality traits to find which jobs might be right for them. This oversized volume is attractively illustrated and represents a diversity of skin tones and hair textures. The thoughtful details about each career are helpful and thorough, and the first-person narration is inviting. However, the police dog handler’s job description will unsettle some readers: The dog is trained to apprehend “suspects by biting them on the arm and holding on until I give the command to let go,” a detail that won’t escape children who know incarcerated adults or who are already afraid of police—yet the woman of color who speaks says the hardest part of the job is staying fit to keep up with the dog.
An overall valuable volume with a major oversight. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61067-989-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...
Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.
One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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