Bird and animal lovers will enjoy this journey to a remote but welcoming locale.
The intrepid husband-and-wife team’s latest travels take them to Iceland to report on the plight of puffins.
With their usual skilled attention to detail and empathy for animal life, the Lewins take readers to the island of Heimaey off the southern coast of Iceland. There, they recount the annual rescue of baby puffins by children of the Puffling Patrol. The young birds are often confused by street lights in the small town and must be rescued and returned to the shore. Focusing on brother-and-sister twins in one Icelandic family, the Lewins provide fascinating information on the adorable birds and the special attention they receive. Whether sheltered in a box or held carefully in the children’s hands, the pufflings are irresistible. The lush watercolor paintings and detailed pen-and-ink sketches draw readers into this remote land and provide many charming close-up views of the colorful seabirds. Like animal life all over, puffins are threatened by global warming, and fewer and fewer numbers are recorded each year, making the twins’ efforts feel all the more urgent. The Lewins have previously visited and written about elephants in Botswana and India, gorillas in Uganda and horses in Mongolia; this latest travelogue is as informative and attractive.
Bird and animal lovers will enjoy this journey to a remote but welcoming locale. (additional information, resources, glossary and pronunciation guide) (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60060-424-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
A picture book worth reading about a historical figure worth remembering.
An honestly told biography of an important politician whose name every American should know.
Published while the United States has its first African-American president, this story of John Roy Lynch, the first African-American speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, lays bare the long and arduous path black Americans have walked to obtain equality. The title’s first three words—“The Amazing Age”—emphasize how many more freedoms African-Americans had during Reconstruction than for decades afterward. Barton and Tate do not shy away from honest depictions of slavery, floggings, the Ku Klux Klan, Jim Crow laws, or the various means of intimidation that whites employed to prevent blacks from voting and living lives equal to those of whites. Like President Barack Obama, Lynch was of biracial descent; born to an enslaved mother and an Irish father, he did not know hard labor until his slave mistress asked him a question that he answered honestly. Freed by the Emancipation Proclamation, Lynch had a long and varied career that points to his resilience and perseverance. Tate’s bright watercolor illustrations often belie the harshness of what takes place within them; though this sometimes creates a visual conflict, it may also make the book more palatable for young readers unaware of the violence African-Americans have suffered than fully graphic images would. A historical note, timeline, author’s and illustrator’s notes, bibliography and map are appended.
A picture book worth reading about a historical figure worth remembering. (Picture book biography. 7-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5379-0
Page Count: 50
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
Lively fun with animal friends.
Has Plum’s pep deserted him?
Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.
Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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