Uneven, but children will enjoy the guessing and likely learn something all the same.
Lift-the-flap lovers explore forest habitats, guessing what animals live in each, in this outing, one of a set of four.
Three clues, two on the verso and one on the flap that’s located on the recto, encourage little ones to guess before lifting the tempting, shaped flaps and revealing a photo cutout of the animal, parts of which peek out the sides and through die-cut holes in the simple cartoon backgrounds. These clues run the gamut in terms of both helpfulness and factuality, some of the “clues” anthropomorphizing the animals: “Who loves to swoop through the trees?” The reveal shows the entire animal along with one or two sentences describing another fact. “I do! I am a gibbon. I can swing up to 30 feet (9 meters) from one branch to another!” The specificity of animals included varies within books and across the set. Generic ones are easy enough for children to guess, but while this title reveals a “snake,” Guess Who’s in the Sand uncovers a “cobra.” Similarly, readers will find a butterfly and a woodpecker among the trees, but a snowy owl and an emperor penguin chick in the Snow. (And strangely, a hippo is in the Grass.) “Talking points” in the back of each book instruct adults as to how to best share the book with children and give the adult-child pair some things to do together, including learning more through research, mapping habitats, doing an activity and looking for similar animals near home.
Uneven, but children will enjoy the guessing and likely learn something all the same. (Informational picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60992-699-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: QEB Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it.
What happens when a robot washes up alone on an island?
“Everything was just right on the island.” Brown beautifully re-creates the first days of Roz, the protagonist of his Wild Robot novels, as she adapts to living in the natural world. A storm-tossed ship, seen in the opening just before the title page, and a packing crate are the only other human-made objects to appear in this close-up look at the robot and her new home. Roz emerges from the crate, and her first thought as she sets off up a grassy hill—”This must be where I belong”—is sweetly glorious, a note of recognition rather than conquest. Roz learns to move, hide, and communicate like the creatures she meets. When she discovers an orphaned egg—and the gosling Brightbill, who eventually hatches—her decision to be his mother seems a natural extension of her adaptation. Once he flies south for the winter, her quiet wait across seasons for his return is a poignant portrayal of separation and change. Brown’s clean, precise lines and deep, light-filled colors offer a sense of what Roz might be seeing, suggesting a place that is alive yet deeply serene and radiant. Though the book stands alone, it adds an immensely appealing dimension to Roz’s world. Round thumbnails offer charming peeks into the island world, depicting Roz’s animal neighbors and Brightbill’s maturation.
A hymn to the intrinsic loveliness of the wild and the possibility of sharing it. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9780316669467
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way.
All the typical worries and excuses kids have about school are filtered through Willems’ hysterical, bus-loving Pigeon.
Told mostly in speech balloons, the bird’s monologue will have kids (and their caregivers) in stitches at Pigeon’s excuses. From already knowing everything (except whatever question readers choose to provide in response to “Go ahead—ask me a question. / Any question!”) to fearing learning too much (“My head might pop off”), Pigeon’s imagination has run wild. Readers familiar with Pigeon will recognize the muted, matte backgrounds that show off the bird’s shenanigans so well. As in previous outings, Willems varies the size of the pigeon on the page to help communicate emotion, the bird teeny small on the double-page spread that illustrates the confession that “I’m… / scared.” And Pigeon’s eight-box rant about all the perils of school (“The unknown stresses me out, dude”) is marvelously followed by the realization (complete with lightbulb thought bubble) that school is the place for students to practice, with experts, all those skills they don’t yet have. But it is the ending that is so Willems, so Pigeon, and so perfect. Pigeon’s last question is “Well, HOW am I supposed to get there, anyway!?!” Readers will readily guess both the answer and Pigeon’s reaction.
Yes, the Pigeon has to go to school, and so do readers, and this book will surely ease the way. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: July 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-04645-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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