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LISTEN TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE TREES

Name: LISTEN TO THE LANGUAGE OF THE TREES
Author: Tera Kelley
ISBN: 978-1-72823-216-4

A STORY OF HOW FORESTS COMMUNICATE UNDERGROUND

by Tera Kelley ; illustrated by Marie Hermansson ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2022

Smart, concise explanations of a tricky topic leave readers only wanting to learn more.

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The nature of tree communication is laid out clearly, clarifying some remarkable facts.

A single seedling sprouts at the base of its parent tree (backmatter reveals that the trees are all Douglas firs). As its little roots reach down, they connect with “a silky net of fungi” through which the trees of the forest are able to send messages to one another. The giant tree, towering above, is able to collect enough extra sunlight to send excess food to the seedling. It passes food and water to other trees as well until one day, during a storm, lightning strikes. Burned and battered but not dead, the giant tree is then attacked by an insect hoard. No food exits the tree, but instead, remarkably, the surrounding trees send their own excess food and water back to their ailing compatriot. Meanwhile, the seedling continues to grow. Accompanying at-times poignant text, the book’s rich illustrations remain fairly realistic while using clever visual clues to explain different concepts. For example, to indicate the kind of help that passes among the trees, each type of message sent through the fungi appears as a small colored symbol. The end result drills home this complicated idea of tree communication in a way that many kids will appreciate. Additional photographic backmatter with more information on trees rounds out the book. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Smart, concise explanations of a tricky topic leave readers only wanting to learn more. (activities) (Nonfiction picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: March 1, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-72823-216-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dawn Publications

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- PERSPECTIVES
5 Picture Books That Evoke the Wonder of Trees

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1001 BEES

by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 BIRDS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 ANTS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)