TEN LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HIPPOPOTAMUSES

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TEN LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HIPPOPOTAMUSES

Name: TEN LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT HIPPOPOTAMUSES
Author: Douglas Little
ISBN: 0-395-73975-6

by Douglas Little & illustrated by Donna Rawlins & David Francis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1995

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The subtitle clarifies Little's approach in his first book: ``And More Little-Known Facts and a Few Fibs About Other Animals.'' Both droll and silly, it will need some book-talking to find an audience. The graphics and format are sophisticated; the text is wry and dense with information and deliberate misinformation. Some sections are funny: The ``Shoppers' Guide'' offers ten rules for telling apart a pineapple and an echidna (spiny anteater). On the page, spiny anteaters wind in and out the text and pineapples sit in a stately row. Other sections of the book (a short story called ``How Isabella spoke bird'') demonstrate just what an odd mix of fact and fiction this volume is, which LC catalogues as 591 (Animals-Miscellaneous). Fact-finders may not find the more fanciful flights helpful; these are sometimes so subtle that fibs and facts will be hard for children to tell apart. Nevertheless, Little has a lively imagination; after playing so fast and loose with nonfiction, it will be interesting to see what he comes up with next. (Nonfiction. 10+)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1995

ISBN: 0-395-73975-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1995

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS

by Jack Cheng ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2017

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.

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If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?

For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MANY MASKS OF ANDY ZHOU
by Jack Cheng ; illustrated by Jack Cheng

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TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR

by Ben Mikaelsen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2001

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Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)