A touching ode to Indigenous activists organizing for generations of clean water.
The true story of a young Anishinaabe woman and her family’s legacy of Native water activism.
In the foreword, Anishinaabe activist Autumn Peltier explains, “In our culture, we look at water as a living being, and we’re taught to treat it with the same respect we would show another human.” With this ethic in mind, Lindstrom (Anishinaabe/Métis) and George (Anishinaabe) tell their story from the perspective of nibi (Anishinaabe for water) itself. Beginning with the Anishinaabe tradition of “looking seven generations into the future” to ensure that water is clean for everyone, nibi celebrates Indigenous land and water stewardship. But “over time, more people came” and polluted and mistreated water, and Native women “were forced to get louder” in the fight for water protection—including Grandma Josephine, Autumn Peltier’s great-aunt. A water warrior famous for trekking around the Great Lakes with a copper water pail, Grandma Josephine inspired young Autumn to also make waves. George’s rich, cartoon images reverently depict Autumn’s growth as an organizer under her ancestors’ guidance, honoring their intergenerational struggles. After the story concludes with an invitation to join Autumn in the fight for water rights, backmatter offers more details about Grandma Josephine and Autumn’s activism. Lindstrom’s latest is a moving tribute to Native women and their crucial leadership in Indigenous and water rights. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A touching ode to Indigenous activists organizing for generations of clean water. (glossary, further reading) (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781250795274
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A quick flight but a blast from first to last.
A charged-up roundup of astro-facts.
Having previously explored everything awesome about both dinosaurs (2019) and sharks (2020), Lowery now heads out along a well-traveled route, taking readers from the Big Bang through a planet-by-planet tour of the solar system and then through a selection of space-exploration highlights. The survey isn’t unique, but Lowery does pour on the gosh-wow by filling each hand-lettered, poster-style spread with emphatic colors and graphics. He also goes for the awesome in his selection of facts—so that readers get nothing about Newton’s laws of motion, for instance, but will come away knowing that just 65 years separate the Wright brothers’ flight and the first moon landing. They’ll also learn that space is silent but smells like burned steak (according to astronaut Chris Hadfield), that thanks to microgravity no one snores on the International Space Station, and that Buzz Aldrin was the first man on the moon…to use the bathroom. And, along with a set of forgettable space jokes (OK, one: “Why did the carnivore eat the shooting star?” “Because it was meteor”), the backmatter features drawing instructions for budding space artists and a short but choice reading list. Nods to Katherine Johnson and NASA’s other African American “computers” as well as astronomer Vera Rubin give women a solid presence in the otherwise male and largely White cast of humans. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A quick flight but a blast from first to last. (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-35974-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
