March 11, 2024
Eye-opening facts and humorous questions pepper the friendly narration of the brown-throated three-toed sloth who features in this engaging book. The mammal’s personality is on immediate display with the opening “Oh, hiiiiiiiii! You caught me in the middle of a nap.” The creature next describes key aspects of sloth life, from tree-climbing (“My claws act as hooks”) and pooping (once a week) to diet and common dangers both natural and human, before moving on to overviews of the world’s six sloth types. The portrait that emerges often wows with unexpected details: “Most people think I like to keep to myself. But I’ve got hundreds of friends with me wherever I go. Many of them are moths and beetles that live in my fur!” Through varied visual perspectives, realistic pencil, watercolor, and digital artwork supplies a charismatic picture of its smiling subject, buoyed by interactive questions (“How often do you poop?”; “Do you have any bugs living on you?”). Back matter offers a conservation message and additional surprising facts. Publishing simultaneously: Hello, I’m a Pangolin. Ages 3–7.
August 1, 2024
Grades K-2 Greetings are in order for the two precious featured creatures in the Meet the Wild Things series (2 new titles). The author/illustrator couple Hayley and John Rocco, ambassadors for a nonprofit focused on conservation and rewilding South Africa, each work on the Meet the Wild Things series features an animal that is in need of conservation efforts. Lovely pencil, watercolor, and digital illustrations follow a specific species throughout its day-to-day activities. The narration addresses the reader in second person regarding how the creatures eat, sleep, interact, and ultimately, survive. Hello, I'm a Sloth features a narrating brown-throated, three-toed sloth that speaks on the sleepy, yet surprisingly helpful, nature of sloths. It mentions that algae and fungi in the fur of some sloths has been used to fight cancer, as well as defend the sloth from predators as a camouflage, and how humans are helping sloths in return through reforestation and building rope bridges between divided forests so that sloths can keep moving. Back matter features additional facts, notes on the endangerment of each species, and organizations working to save them. Each reads like a picture book, making a solid serial option for an informative, nature-inspired read aloud series in the classroom, library youth department, and beyond.
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October 1, 2024
A genial slowpoke invites young readers to hang out in the trees. "Oh, hiiiiiiiii!" Kicking off a series of basic encounters with threatened or endangered species, the Roccos wake a smiling brown-throated three-toed sloth from a nap so that it can describe its lifestyle in Mr. Rogers-style simplicity. "Actually, the only time I climb down to the ground is once a week to poop.How often do you poop?" Along with introducing the algae, fungi, and insects that live in its long hair ("I've got hundreds of friends with me wherever I go") and describing other sloth species, the arboreal narrator frets about predators like harpy eagles and the way logging has left gaps in the leafy understories, which make new food sources hard to reach. Luckily, though, there are people who plant new trees and string rope bridges between patches of forest to climb across. "Will you help, too?" Various leads to organizations that are working to preserve and restore sloth populations cap a closing set of additional sloth feats and facts, plus a more detailed explanation of the threats facing these slow, nonaggressive creatures. Human characters are diverse. A particularly absorbing overview.(Informational picture book. 5-7)
COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
October 4, 2024
K-Gr 2-First-person narratives from lovable endangered species encourage children to learn more. In each book, an animal introduces itself in a conversational way-the quokka's fun energetic speech is especially endearing-and shares facts about its species. To keep readers engaged, each animal poses questions to children, such as the sloth asking, "How often do you poop?" or "Can you swim?" Each narrative also explains the dangers the animals face and what people are doing to help them. The mostly full-page illustrations are lovely, especially the perspective from the ground looking up into the sunlit leaves surrounding the sloth. Some readers might wish there were more detailed or close-up drawings of features mentioned (e.g., the sloth's claws or the pangolin's scales), or concrete examples of how kids can help. There are no works cited aside from acknowledgements at the end when the author and illustrator mention people who helped them. End notes include additional information about the species and why they're endangered. VERDICT Warm presentations of vulnerable species will appeal to young animal lovers in these read alouds.-Elissa Cooper
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2024
A breezy introduction to the species narrated by a sloth. Information covered includes diet, behaviors, threats, and habitat. Realistic illustrations and engaging questions will draw readers into the book. Detailed back matter provides more information and discusses why the species is endangered.
(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)