Bunting (Train to Somewhere, p. 65, etc.) writes about a small boy who discovers a secret place—a small patch of wildlife—at night in the river that runs through a cacophonous, polluted urban center—"Close by is a freeway where cars and trucks boom, and a railroad track with freight trains that shunt and grunt." He shares this discovery with his father who runs a forklift at night and "is good with secrets," a young married couple, and others who teach him the names of the birds. The snowy egret feeds, green-winged teals and buffleheads skim the water, a mallard duck raises ducklings, and a coyote and possum with babies come to drink. The boy wants to tell even more people about the secret place, but decides to be careful in the name of protecting it. The brief poetic text captures the surprising beauty of nature in the city, where "The phone wires rocked the moon/in their cradle of lines./The stars rested bright on the telephone poles." Luminous watercolors juxtapose the concrete and smoke of warehouses and wharves in an evocative and deeply satisfying work. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-64367-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1996
A book that will make young dog-owners smile in recognition and confirm dogless readers' worst suspicions about the mayhem caused by pets, even winsome ones. Sam, who bears passing resemblance to an affable golden retriever, is praised for fetching the family newspaper, and goes on to fetch every other newspaper on the block. In the next story, only the children love Sam's swimming; he is yelled at by lifeguards and fishermen alike when he splashes through every watering hole he can find. Finally, there is woe to the entire family when Sam is bored and lonely for one long night. Boland has an essential message, captured in both both story and illustrations of this Easy-to-Read: Kids and dogs belong together, especially when it's a fun-loving canine like Sam. An appealing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8037-1530-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
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)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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