A rather flat compilation of tree and forest legends and myths accompanied by stolid illustrations.
Myths and legends surrounding trees and forests make up this picture book.
Seventeen tree species from around the world and four forests (Madagascar’s Alley, or Avenue, of the Baobabs, Sherwood Forest, the Amazon rainforest, and the Black Forest) are introduced to readers via the myths and legends associated with them. Each double-page spread features a substantial illustration accompanied by text that includes a brief notation about the height of the tree in metric units (or trees in the case of the forest entries) and notes whether it is deciduous or evergreen as well as other qualities before relaying the myth or legend associated with it. Several of the entries read like (and are remarkably similar to) the Wikipedia entries on the same subjects. Illustrator Alonso’s color illustrations, in a bright but hardly nature-hued palette, have a stylized, silk-screened look. With their flat shapes and saturated color, they come across as quite heavy and impassive. While several illustrations depict people of many ethnicities and cultures, some don’t illustrate the tree the text is addressing, which may be frustrating to readers who may not know what, say, a hawthorn tree looks like. The book’s final illustration, a double-page spread, does show and label each tree in a forestlike arrangement, which is handy for height and spatial comparison.
A rather flat compilation of tree and forest legends and myths accompanied by stolid illustrations. (Picture book/folklore. 5-10)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-42-3
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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