Attractive and brimming with intriguing facts.
A look at this scaled mammal, illustrated with full-color photos.
Spotlighting Thai Van Nguyen, who as a small child in Vietnam witnessed hunters taking a mother pangolin and her baby and vowed to spend his life trying to save them, this well-designed book is full of clear, fascinating facts about the pangolin and the efforts to save them from extinction. Van Nguyen founded Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, which rescues and cares for injured pangolins and disseminates information about Vietnam’s mammals. Readers will learn that there are eight species of pangolin, that they can be found in Africa and Asia, and that their diet primarily consists of ants and other insects. To that end, pangolins’ tongues can be up to 16 inches long—longer than their bodies. They’re also the only mammals to have scales, and they curl up when threatened to protect their vulnerable bellies. The information is simplified for younger readers, with words like nocturnal and rheumatism defined within the text. A section about what readers can do to help includes ideas like becoming a species ambassador—finding out more about pangolins and telling family and friends. Readers will come away feeling empowered to help and more knowledgeable about this amazing creature. Humans pictured are Asian.
Attractive and brimming with intriguing facts. (glossary, further sources, index) (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72844-295-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
