Kids who wonder why their fingertips get wrinkly in the bathtub will find the answer to this question and other scientific stumpers in this simple but not simplistic study of the ways of water. Cobb (I See Myself, below, etc.) is well known for her collections of science experiments and concise explanations of scientific principles. She uses this talent in her new Science Play series, designed for parents to use with young children at home. In this volume she explains the most basic properties of water: how it flows, adheres to itself but not to waxed or oiled surfaces, and how it is absorbed through skin. Easy, quick experiments are interwoven into the text, delivered in a chatty style in the second person. Parents who want to interest their children in basic scientific concepts will find this series useful, as will teachers from preschool level through first grade. Gorton’s attractive computer-generated art features a young Asian boy performing the activities described in the text. Her illustrations utilize uncluttered pages, bright colors on white backgrounds, and creative type treatments that flow together into a lively, informative treatment. (author’s note) (Nonfiction. 3-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-688-17838-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender...
A polar-bear parent speaks poetically of love for a child.
A genderless adult and cub travel through the landscapes of an arctic year. Each of the softly rendered double-page paintings has a very different feel and color palette as the pair go through the seasons, walking through wintry ice and snow and green summer meadows, cavorting in the blue ocean, watching whales, and playing beside musk oxen. The rhymes of the four-line stanzas are not forced, as is the case too often in picture books of this type: “When cold, winter winds / blow the leaves far and wide, / You’ll cross the great icebergs / with me by your side.” On a dark, snowy night, the loving parent says: “But for now, cuddle close / while the stars softly shine. // I’ll always be yours, / and you’ll always be mine.” As the last illustration shows the pair curled up for sleep, young listeners will be lulled to sweet dreams by the calm tenor of the pictures and the words. While far from original, this timeless theme is always in demand, and the combination of delightful illustrations and poetry that scans well make this a good choice for early-childhood classrooms, public libraries, and one-on-one home read-alouds.
Parent-child love and affection, appealingly presented, with the added attraction of the seasonal content and lack of gender restrictions. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68010-070-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tiger Tales
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Richly colored illustrations and lyrical text portray a girl and her family in India waiting for the monsoon season to begin. “[G]ravelly, grainy, gritty dust” blows on the wind and won’t stop until the rains come. The level of anticipation is so high that every engine rumble sounds like thunder. A koel (songbird) sings “in a voice like melting sunshine,” and heat waves “dance upon rocks and shimmer over rooftops.” Sometimes the viewpoint is angled upward to emphasize the sky’s importance. Saturated colors fill every bit of every page (there’s no white space at all), fully conveying the hot, dusty air and the sense of impatience. When the “stretching, sweeping sheet of rain” finally arrives, the girl and her brother dance joyously in the street. An expressive story about seasons, extremes, and waiting. (glossary, author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)
Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2003
ISBN: 0-374-35015-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2003
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