Better suited to dipping than diving, but a “fun book,” as promised.
The popular naturalist reaches for a younger audience with a mix of basic and oddball facts about more than 50 wild creatures.
With much reference to “poo and goo,” Flannery, whose books for adults include Europe: A Natural History (2019), ratchets down his usual level of discourse to focus on essentials: the “weaponized vomit” of turkey vultures, for instance, “Snot Studies,” and anatomical insights such as the special help that tree kangaroos get from masses of stomach worms in digesting their food. The entries, loosely organized by habitat, each also offer standard-issue observations on geographical range, typical diet, distinctive physical features, and, often, challenges posed by climate or environmental change. Along with an autobiographical introduction and personal notes about encounters with some of his wild subjects, the author tucks in glances at broad topics such as evolution, extinction, and scientific nomenclature too. Caldwell goes mostly for splashes of bright color and silly riffs in his illustrations, so naturalistic detail takes a back seat to a male blue whale in a lounge singer’s dress, courting scorpion and seahorse couples in ballroom garb, and like follies. Some readers may find this a bit long for a cover-to-cover read, but any who relish learning about a tree-climbing turtle or how moths “love pretending to be things they’re not, like hornets or eyeballs or lumps of poop,” will be well rewarded.
Better suited to dipping than diving, but a “fun book,” as promised. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-324-01543-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Here is an adventure in a unique setting. The lively text and lovely watercolors document three and a half months of a summer the artist and author spent at the South Pole, as part of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. Hooper describes everyday life aboard the research ship Laurence M. Gould, a sturdy orange icebreaker that scientists use to travel between the islands to study the wide variety of animals who come each year to breed and raise their young. An assortment of penguins, elephant seals, giant petrels, huge skuas, and leopard seals hold center stage. Scientists are less important than the serious business of successfully raising young in the short summer season. The author captures the drama of the ice-cold ocean, alive with life: “Swarms of barrel-shaped blue-tinged salps, stuck together in floating chains. Minute creatures with red eyes. Sliding through the water in a curving path like a ribbon.” The artist provides striking paintings of the landscape and the animals in soft washy colors, and quick pencil sketches. The ice is lemon gold with mauve shadows, and the sea a silver gray in the 24-hour day. Animals are expressive and individual. The krill, the tiny shrimp-like creatures that form the backbone of the ocean food chain, appear in luminous glory. The author concludes with a page on global warming, a map of the islands visited, and an index. From cover to cover a personal and informative journey. (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7188-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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