THE DANCE OF THE BEES

Honeybees (and a little light magic) unite three generations through poetry.

As a young unnamed girl and her grandmother walk through the Japanese countryside, the older woman shares her knowledge of these and other pollinators and their role in the world’s food web. The lessons continue but then are lost to time until the girl returns to the area many years later, causing her memories of that summer to return. Walking with her own child, they follow a bee that leads them to a cairn, beneath which they find her grandmother’s notebook with haiku from that last visit. The story, soft and methodical, is mirrored in the pale collage illustrations made from cut paper and watercolors. Each illustration includes one of the haiku poems printed vertically, perhaps conceived by the grandmother in that moment and written shortly after. Readers will learn a few rudimentary facts about bees, but caregivers and educators should be ready to research questions that the story raises. The illustrations may be too subtle for large storytimes, but the text flows nicely aloud for lap reads. The backmatter discusses the history and creative process of writing a haiku, which may inspire proactive caregivers to plan a weekend poetry project. The grandmother and protagonist have pale skin and straight black hair, and the protagonist’s son is depicted with straight red hair.

Soft and sweet. (Picture book. 6-10)

Pub Date: April 15, 2021

ISBN: 978-84-18302-27-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Cuento de Luz

Review Posted Online: March 17, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021

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MR. POPPER'S PENGUINS

This is rather a silly story, and I don't believe children will think it particularly funny. A paper hanger and painter finds time on his hands in winter, and spends it in reading of arctic exploration. It is all given reality when he receives a present of a penguin, which makes its nest in the refrigerator on cubes of ice, mates with a lonely penguin from the zoo, and produces a family of penguins which help set the Poppers on their feet.

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1938

ISBN: 978-0-316-05843-8

Page Count: 139

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1938

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A hilarious but enlightening guide to the online world—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

BAD KITTY GETS A PHONE (GRAPHIC NOVEL)

A craving for the latest tech leads to cat-astrophe in this new addition to the Bad Kitty series.

With her heart set on owning a cellphone, anthropomorphic house cat Kitty plows through three solid months of chores without complaining before her owners reluctantly grant her fervent wish. Then things go rapidly downhill. She becomes obsessed with violent mobile games, gets catfished (no pun intended), divulges too much personal information online, becomes consumed with rage at cyberbullies, and grows listless from excessive screen time. Only after the intervention of a Sphynx cat named Strange Kitty and a monthlong technology fast enforced by her owners does Kitty come to understand that while smartphones are fun, they can also be a serious distraction from real life and true friends. Using a digestible graphic-novel format, the book tackles internet safety and digital media literacy with purr-fect aplomb. The “Uncle Murray’s Fun Facts” section serves as a deep dive into the differences between facts and opinions, and many of Kitty’s quirky feline behaviors ring true. It’s unfortunate that the word lame—a disability-related term with negative connotations—is used by the internet trolls who deride the video Kitty makes and posts on “ViewTube.” Occasional misstep aside, Kitty’s tribulations provide ample fodder for this instructive and amusing tale.

A hilarious but enlightening guide to the online world—the good, the bad, and the ugly. (Graphic novel. 6-9)

Pub Date: Dec. 28, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-250-74996-3

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021

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