Review by Booklist Review
Animals make their homes in all corners of the world, and this gorgeous French import explores the varied and wondrous ways in which 27 animals dwell in their natural environments. There are a few familiar faces, like industrious beavers and bustling bees, but young readers may not have thought deeply about their lairs, and there are plenty of offbeat animals, too. Feathery fan worms emerge from slender tubes, the curious caddisfly larva adorns itself with a chaotic casing of underwater debris, and an elf owl peers out of its prickly perch in a saguaro cactus. Each critter is treated to a stunning full spread featuring a depiction of the animal and its domain, and an accompanying verse of translated text beautifully imparts tidbits of fascinating information. The striking artwork has a sketched, scratchy quality that is just as spectacular when taking a wide view of a golden eagle's cliffside retreat as it is zooming in on a spider's silvery web, and the blueprint endpapers are a particularly clever touch. The mesmerizing artwork combined with sophisticated text will appeal to a wide age range, and readers eager to learn more can delve into back matter offering a few more facts, a glossary, and suggestions for further reading. An exceptional exploration of a delightfully diverse roundup of natural dwellings and their equally intriguing inhabitants.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Simler takes on the perspectives of twenty-seven creatures who share the intricacies of their homes in this eye-catching French import. Each entry features a poem about, and illustration of, the animal and its habitat. The playful poem titles include a comet moth's "Silky Apartment," a European fan worm's "Tubular Condo," and the common tailorbird's "Haute Couture Bedchamber." Creatures relate their stories with style: the satin bowerbird tells readers that its home is built from sticks and twigs, which Simler describes as "an arched avenue." It paints its walls with berry juice, adding, "I have a real flair for home decoration." Readers leave with facts about the natural world, such as that the red ovenbird takes several weeks to construct its "Mud Bungalow," that the elf owl is the smallest owl in the world, and that the silk that connects the walls of the "Leafy Fortress" of a weaver ant is spun by young larvae. Simler's highly textured, jewel-tone illustrations give readers detailed peeks into the animals' homes. The elf owl stares directly at readers from its perch on a cactus plant, and a Sumatran orangutan, about to succumb to sleep, gazes out from a "mattress of fresh leaves" in the forest. These vivid, sensory poems could serve as superb classroom writing prompts, and back matter (including a glossary and recommended resources) provides additional information. Julie DanielsonMarch/April 2024 p.104 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
From an octopus' "stony villa" to a satin bowerbird's "blue pavilion," Simler takes young readers on a poetic, fanciful tour of animal homes. Architectural drawings of human habitations on the endpapers set the tone for the gentle anthropomorphization of Simler's descriptions. Spread by spread, the animals describe their dwellings in short poems, translated by Lal from the original French. "I live in the vertical plane," declares the cross orbweaver spider, "in a complex structure / made from the strongest / and most elastic material there is." Simler's trademark style of digitally finished hair's-breadth strokes of colored pencil creates a "lace citadel" that occupies two-thirds of the spread, tiny breaks in the white lines allowing the web's strands to glimmer against a black background. The spider's delicate hairs beg readers to touch them. Simler introduces 27 animal abodes in all, from every continent except Antarctica, most of them rarely depicted in books for young readers. Refreshingly, only two (the golden eagle and the Sumatran orangutan) represent charismatic megafauna. Readers will meet Australia's cathedral termites, for instance, which build a "clay skyscraper," and the Kalahari's sociable weaver, which inhabits a "straw apartment complex," a tree-enveloping nest that holds 500 birds. Backmatter includes a short prose paragraph about each animal, a glossary, and recommended resources. Standing out in beauty and breadth, a lyrical addition to the animal-homes shelf. (Informational picture book/poetry. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
