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I WAS

Name: I WAS
Author: Katherine Hocker
ISBN: 9781536223132

THE STORIES OF ANIMAL SKULLS

by Katherine Hocker ; illustrated by Natasha Donovan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Heady lessons in reasoning from evidence, with food for deeper thought.

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An invitation to contemplate what animal skulls can reveal about their previous users’ senses and behaviors.

Donovan’s carefully detailed skulls, most placed on the ground in outdoorsy settings, make it easy to follow Hocker’s beautifully penned poetic references (“I tasted bark, then heartwood / heard sticks snap as the tree fell”). In the backmatter, readers will find more expansive descriptions of what the size and placement of these skulls’ “arches and ridges and caverns of bone” might suggest about the eyes, noses, and diets of the six once-living creatures, from lynx to hummingbird, that appear in the flesh on alternating spreads. There’s also a seventh bony image here: human, with major parts labeled, following earlier views of young observers with brown skin intact and their crania still protecting minds able to think and discover. (The author’s remark that “you can learn your father’s language and your grandmother’s too” obliquely hints at Native American roots for at least one of the children.) The ontological title, which does double duty as a running refrain, encourages more philosophical reflection, as does a closing claim that “just like you,” animals also have “thoughts and memories, curiosity, intelligence, and consciousness.”

Heady lessons in reasoning from evidence, with food for deeper thought. (resource list) (Informational picture book. 7-10)

Pub Date: May 7, 2024

ISBN: 9781536223132

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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1001 BEES

by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.

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This book is buzzing with trivia.

Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)

Pub Date: May 18, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 BIRDS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 ANTS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

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I AM GRAVITY

by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2024

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.

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An introduction to gravity.

The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)