Should get young entomologists buzzing.
Bug enthusiast Mellie helps new kid Jason feel the excitement when Science Club takes part in the titular community-science event.
Jason is dubious about spending the afternoon looking for stinging insects, and Mellie would really rather be paired with best friend Sylvie instead of Jason. But as Mellie explains the differences among the pollinating insects that they spot and marks their tally card, Jason warms to the activity and Mellie warms to Jason. Between Ms. Bombus’ gentle instruction and eager Mellie’s contributions, young listeners will learn a lot about both the Great Pollinator Count and many of the plants and insects that make up a healthy North American pollinator ecosystem. Coleman’s bright illustrations feature stylized but recognizable blooms; the bugs that visit them are depicted out of scale for visibility but are otherwise rendered accurately. Mellie’s descriptions include mnemonics: A carpenter bee has a “shiny hiney,” and wasps and hornets have “skinny-mini” waists. While the story’s focus is educational, Richmond takes care to develop narrator Mellie’s character fully; the youngster is a know-it-all with depth. Mellie has parchment-colored skin and bushy blond hair, Jason has light-brown skin and curly brown hair, and Sylvie presents East Asian. Ms. Bombus has dark-brown skin and dark hair, and the Science Club members are racially diverse. Backmatter offers more information on pollination and pollinators.
Should get young entomologists buzzing. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781682636084
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Margaret Quinlin Books/Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader!
Fun with friends makes for a great day.
Norbit, a salmon-colored worm with a pink kerchief, joyfully greets the day and everyone he encounters. “Hello, friends! It’s time for fun with the sun! Let’s play!” He and his menagerie of forest pals—including the sun, who grows limbs and descends from the sky—exuberantly engage in various forms of physical activity such as jumping, going down a slide, spinning around, and watching the clouds go by. Young readers will readily relate, as these are games that most children are familiar with. As day turns to night, Norbit says farewell to Sun and welcomes Moon with an invitation to continue the fun. Watkins has created a vivid world of movement and merriment. Her illustrations feature bright bursts of color that match the energy of the text, with most sentences ending in an exclamation point. The author/illustrator incorporates many elements that make for an ideal early-reading experience (despite the use of a contraction or two): art free from clutter, text consisting of words with only one or two syllables, and repetition and recurring bits, such as a continued game of hide-and-seek with Sun. Inspired by never-before-seen sketches from the Dr. Seuss Collection archives at the University of California San Diego, this is the first title for Seuss Studios, a new imprint for original stories from “emerging authors and illustrators” who “honor Seuss’s hallmark spirit of creativity and imagination.”
Say hello to a relatable and rewarding early reader! (author's note) (Early reader. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780593646212
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Seuss Studios
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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