Review of Forest Fighter: The Story of Chico Mendes, by Anita Ganeri and Margaux Carpentier

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Forest Fighter

The Story of Chico Mendes

by Anita Ganeri and Margaux Carpentier

Crocodile Books, 2022. 48 pages.
Review written December 29, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review

Forest Fighter is a children’s biography of a hero I’d known nothing about. Chico Mendes was born in the Amazon rainforest on a rubber estate to parents who were rubber tappers.

But the rubber estate owners of the time exploited the tappers. They were paid for the rubber they got from the trees, but then charges were deducted for tools and even for renting the trees. So the families were forced to stay in poverty.

The book gives plenty of details on big, bright pages. There’s more text than a typical picture book biography, but the information paints a picture of the difficult situation. Chico was tapping rubber with his father when he was still a boy — and then a stranger came to the forest and taught him to read.

When Chico grew up, he got a job with the Brazilian Literacy Movement. But many of his students were rubber tappers and he learned about the challenges they faced.

In the 1970s, the Brazilian government needed money and looked to the Amazon to find it. They began facilitating clearing the rainforest to start cattle ranches. But that didn’t work out well for the land or the people. Chico was instrumental in a movement to save the rainforest — including making government reserves to use the rainforest in sustainable ways.

A quote from Chico sums up his story:

At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.

Chico brought the attention of the world to the plight of the Amazon, but ended up losing his life because of his work. However, his legacy lives on with a large forest reserve named in his honor.

The book has five pages of back matter, including facts about the Amazon rainforest. Unfortunately, rainforest destruction is happening more quickly than ever in our day — which makes Chico’s story all the more important.

margauxcarpentier.com
interlinkbooks.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Finding My Dance, by Ria Thundercloud, illustrated by Kalila J. Fuller

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Finding My Dance

by Ria Thundercloud
illustrated by Kalila J. Fuller

Penguin Workshop, 2022. 32 pages.
Review written December 29, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Finding My Dance is a picture book autobiography of a dancer — a dancer of all kinds of music, beginning when she was four years old and received her first jingle dress, hand sewn by her mom.

Ria begins the book giving her name in her nation’s language, which means “Beautiful Thunder Woman.” She introduces herself as from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin and Sandia Pueblo in New Mexico. Then she talks about how her heritage built her passion for dance, something those tribes value deeply.

She tells about first being brought into the powwow circle when she was very young and spending summers on the powwow trail, dancing with family and friends.

Later, she studied other kinds of dance — modern, jazz, tap, contemporary, and ballet. She joined a competitive dance team and was named International Dance Challenge Champion.

She sometimes was made to feel she didn’t fit in, but her indigenous heritage was her foundation, fueling her love of dance and connection with the earth. There are many beautiful pages in this book. I love the spread with postcards from many places all over the world where she traveled as a professional dancer, and I also love the spread where she talks about being given a set of eagle wings.

The eagle flies the highest in the sky, and we believe their feathers carry our prayers to our ancestors — it is a messenger.

The connection to sky elements has always been a part of who I am.
When I performed my eagle dance while wearing the wings,
it felt like the eagle was with me the entire time.

This picture book does a lovely job of expressing not so much a list of facts about her career (Alas! There is no back matter), but her feelings about dance and about her tribes and her connections to the world. A truly beautiful book.

penguin.com/kids

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Review of Infinity: Figuring Out Forever, by Sarah C. Campbell, photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

Infinity

Figuring Out Forever

by Sarah C. Campbell
photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Astra Young Readers, 2022. 32 pages.
Review written December 22, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Kids are fascinated by infinity. Well, my kids were fascinated by infinity, anyway. But more kids can hear about the ideas behind infinity and become fascinated with the help of this simple picture book.

I like that the illustrations are photographs, helping kids grasp that the idea of infinity is all around us. There’s a picture of a kid sitting between two mirrors and looking into them. There are pictures of starry skies, flocks of birds, and leafy trees. On another page, they’ve written out a googol.

But the book also makes clear that infinity isn’t just big numbers. They also demonstrate an orange slice, with half taken away, then half of that taken away, and so on.

Thinking about infinity is tricky. You have already thought of a large number and added one, but that might lead you to make the mistake of thinking infinity is something really, really big. Remember, though, infinity is not something big. Infinity is endlessness.

They tie it up by saying that even though the stars in the sky are finite, your mind has no limits.

The back matter is fun because it includes the ideas of Hilbert’s Hotel as an infinite school with infinite school buses arriving. It’s kind of a shame it’s buried in the back matter — but if this intrigues your kid, they need to find a copy of The Cat in Numberland, by Ivar Ekeland, where the whole book explores those ideas, and why adding infinity to infinity can just be infinity.

Overall, the book is a straightforward introduction for kids. The photo illustrations make it extra inviting.

sarahccampbell.com
astrapublishinghouse.com

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Review of Killer Underwear Invasion! by Elise Gravel

Children's Nonfiction Review, Current Issues, Graphic Novel, History, Humorous, Starred Review 0

Killer Underwear Invasion!

How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation & Conspiracy Theories

by Elise Gravel

Chronicle Books, 2022. 104 pages.
Review written December 22, 2022, from a library book.
Starred Review

Killer Underwear Invasion! is a just-about-perfect graphic novel explanation for kids about fake news, how to watch for it, and why it’s harmful. The examples are silly, which makes the book a lot of fun, but they’re also presented in a way that reminds the reader of real-life examples.

After an explanation of what fake news and disinformation are, we get lots of reasons why people would make them up: To make money, to get famous, to spread beliefs, to gain power, and to get other people to share information on social media (which is generally to make money). There are funny examples with silly characters for each one.

Then we’re told that fake news can be very dangerous.

Let’s say Galbinus wants to try to convince you to take a remedy that doesn’t work — or might even harm you.

“You can cure every disease by drinking shampoo!*”

[Click here to buy shampoo!]

*Please don’t try this at home.

Of course, doctors and scientists will say. . .

“No, no, no! DO NOT drink shampoo! It’s dangerous! It doesn’t cure anything!”

So Galbinus might start writing articles attacking doctors.

“ALL DOCTORS ARE EVIL LIARS!”

“THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO FEEL BETTER!”

You get the idea! The next example is a big factory that dumps toxic chemicals in the ocean. They get a fake expert to write an article saying that pollution doesn’t exist.

Then we’ve got a politician who claims his opponent is bad because he pinches puppies. For all of these examples, it shows many people believing the fake news.

And then the chapter on conspiracy theories pulls all of these silly stories together. It shows some fake news going viral and then people putting stories together and believing that doctors and the political candidate have sent robot-scorpions into the sewers to pinch your puppies.

All this silliness aside, the book brings things around by looking at why people believe fake news, and how we can guard against it, with ten practical steps.

This does include a nice shout-out to librarians:

Okay, so can I really trust anyone?

Well, it can be difficult to decide who to trust. If you’re not sure if you can trust a source, ask a librarian.

Librarians are trained to help you find reliable information.

It all adds up to an informative, fun, and entertaining book about an important and timely subject. It was fun for me to read, even already knowing a lot about the topic.

elisegravel.com
chroniclekids.com

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Review of The Girl Who Sang, by Estelle Nadel and Sammy Savos

Award Winners, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Graphic Memoir, Starred Review 0

The Girl Who Sang

A Holocaust Memoir of Hope and Survival

by Estelle Nadel
with Sammy Savos and Bethany Strout
art by Sammy Savos

Roaring Brook Press, 2024. 264 pages.
Review written February 18, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Sidney Taylor Gold Medal, Middle Grades
2025 Sibert Honor Book
2025 Best Children’s Graphic Novels Top Ten

The Girl Who Sang is a memoir about the Holocaust in graphic novel form. And yes, rather amazingly, the author makes it a story of hope and survival.

Enia was the youngest of five kids living on a farm in a village in Poland. But then the Germans came, and they had to go into hiding. Enia ended up hiding in different attics from when she was five to when she was ten. And she lost all but two of her brothers during the war.

But she makes this book about the good people who helped save their lives along the way, and about the joy of being free after the war and building a new life in America.

And through all of it, she has always loved to sing.

This book did tear my heart into pieces, and I sure didn’t think the little girl would survive in spots. But this tells the story from a child’s viewpoint, and can be a way to tell children about that dark time in history.

sammysavos.com
mackids.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of A Plate of Hope, by Erin Frankel, illustrated by Paola Escobar, read by Luis Carlos de la Lombana

Audiobooks, Award Winners, Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

A Plate of Hope

The Inspiring Story of Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen

by Erin Frankel
illustrated by Paola Escobar
read by Luis Carlos de la Lombana

Dreamscape Media, 2024. 15 minutes.
Random House Studio, 2024. 48 pages.
Review written January 31, 2025, from a library book and eaudiobook.
Starred Review
2025 Odyssey Winner, Children’s Audiobook
2024 Cybils Finalist, Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

I don’t normally listen to 15-minute audiobooks. But I do make a point of trying to listen to all the Odyssey Award Winners and Honor books. The award is given for the best children’s and young adult audiobooks, and they are always outstanding. Even knowing that, I was impressed with this short but amazing audiobook.

The original book is a picture book biography of the life of Chef José Andrés, how he grew up in Spain loving to be part of making food and feeding people, went on to work in an innovative kitchen, and was taken with the promise of America. Of course, it especially looks at how he developed World Central Kitchen to step in with good food immediately after a disaster. He gets folks in quickly after a crisis making good, local food when folks have lost so much else.

And the audiobook has music playing in the background throughout the whole book with judicious use of sound effects, such as sizzling food and chirping birds. The narrator’s Spanish accent combined with the music gives the story a lilting and joyful feeling. Of course, I recommend checking out both the audiobook and the print book so you can enjoy the pictures as well.

erinfrankel.com

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Review of Go Forth and Tell, by Breanna J. McDaniel, illustrated by April Harrison

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Go Forth and Tell

The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller

written by Breanna J. McDaniel
illustrated by April Harrison

Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024. 40 pages.
Review written February 7, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book

A picture book biography of a ground-breaking children’s librarian who inspired many great Black authors? Yes, please!

I hadn’t heard of Augusta Baker before reading this book, but her story makes me proud to be a librarian.

The book begins with her as a child listening to her grandmother’s stories and goes on to using those tales in college to learn to be a storyteller, and getting a job as a children’s librarian at the 135th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in Harlem, where she worked with children like future authors James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. She found stories to give Black children “heroes that rose up and looked, talked, and shined bright, just like them.”

She went on to become the first Black person to be the coordinator of children’s services in all New York Public Library branches. And she continued to tell stories and became the master Storyteller-in-Residence at the University of South Carolina, where they started a storytelling festival in her honor.

And all this wonderful story is told with vivid, bright and joyful illustrations of this dynamic woman inspiring others.

breannajmcdaniel.com
april-harrison.com
penguin.com/kids

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Review of Life After Whale, by Lynn Brunelle, illustrations by Jason Chin

Children's Nonfiction Review, Science, Starred Review 0

Life After Whale

The Amazing Ecosystem of a Whale Fall

by Lynn Brunelle
illustrations by Jason Chin

Neal Porter Books, 2024. 48 pages.
Review written February 7, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
2025 Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner
2025 Capitol Choices Selection

Life After Whale tells about blue whales, the largest creatures on earth. It starts by showing us how enormous they are, how with one gulp they swallow enough tiny krill to fill a school bus, and how they migrate each year. (Did you know that they have wax rings in their ear canals that are like rings of a tree?)

But after the whale dies, a whole new series of events happen. At first, the whale will float because of gases inside its body, and get bites taken from sharks and fish below and from seabirds above. But once those gases dissipate, over weeks the whale’s body will sink to the bottom of the ocean.

There on the ocean floor, the whale’s body will be the site of a whole new ecosystem, in four overlapping phases. The first phase is the mobile scavenger phase, where mobile creatures eat the whale’s flesh. The second phase is the enrichment opportunist phase, where bone-sucking worms pull nutrients out of the skeleton and other creatures feed on the surrounding sediment. Then comes the sulfophilic phase, where bacteria release hydrogen sulfide from the bones, and sulfur-loving organisms feed on that. And finally comes the reef phase, where organisms like anemones and sponges anchor themselves on the bones and feed on particles in the surrounding water.

And then in a great big circle, the nutrients from the whale’s bones that have mingled with the water get swept upward seasonally – and feed the krill in the upper layers of the ocean, and the krill in turn feed living whales.

All this is explained in meticulous detail with glorious illustrations from Jason Chen. It’s easy to see why this book won the Sibert Medal for the best children’s nonfiction book of the year. I had known nothing about all this, and the author makes it all fascinating – with back matter to explore further.

lynnbrunelle.com
HolidayHouse.com

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Review of Listening to Trees, by Holly Thompson, pictures by Toshiki Nakamura

Biography, Children's Nonfiction Review, Starred Review 0

Listening to Trees

George Nakashima, Woodworker

words by Holly Thompson
pictures by Toshiki Nakamura

Neal Porter Books (Holiday House), 2024. 48 pages.
Review written January 29, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

Listening to Trees is a picture book biography of American George Nakashima. He was of Japanese descent, and his family was imprisoned during World War II because of that, but the focus of this book is his approach to working with wood, bringing out the beauty of the trees themselves.

The story is told in haibun, and explanations at the back tell us that this is a combination of haiku and prose. So it’s more deliberate than the fact that there’s a haiku on each spread.

The book covers his learning years traveling around the world as an architect and then even learning more about Japanese furniture-making techniques from a carpenter in the prison camp. Then it shows how he developed a style that used the shape of the wood and the patterns in the grain to decide what to make, culminating in giant Peace Tables for each continent of the world.

Back matter gives a timeline of his life as well as an explanation of what goes into the process of woodworking, and finally a spread of beautiful photographs of his work. The pictures throughout the book make me want to run my hands along the wood. And that’s starting from a place of never having heard of this artist before.

hatbooks.com
HolidayHouse.com
artoftoshi.com

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Review of The Kitchen Pantry Scientist Math for Kids, by Rebecca Rapoport and Allanna Chung

Children's Nonfiction Review, Mathematical, Starred Review 0

The Kitchen Pantry Scientist

Math for Kids

Fun Math Games and Activities Inspired by Awesome Mathematicians, Past and Present

by Rebecca Rapoport and Allanna Chung

Quarto Publishing, 2022. 128 pages.
Review written January 8, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Mathical Book Prize Honor Book, Ages 8-10

Oh, this book is wonderful!

A lot of general books about math for kids have the same old stuff you’ve heard before, presented in a fairly random order.

This book is organized around twenty-two biographies of distinguished mathematicians, and then has a hands-on game or activity (some using templates found at the back of the book or on the accompanying website). The activities are very cool! I think I am going to print out the templates for the hexaflexagons. Some of the other activities include making a car with square wheels, a mancala game, a binary bracelet, and an alien city.

The activities are illustrated with clear photographs and have step-by-step instructions. The biographies take up one page, with a full-page illustration of the mathematician and symbols around them representing their work.

I loved that I hadn’t heard of a majority of the mathematicians presented, even though I’ve read a lot of books like this. I also loved that most were women and/or people of color. Because there are a lot of white men in math, and it was exciting to me to hear about others. And everyone chosen had done important work.

A really wonderful book about math that will make the reader want to explore and make and do.

dailyepsilon.com
Quarto.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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