Kari Lavelle

Nov 8, 2024 | sonderbooks.com | Kari Lavelle

Ode to GrapefruitHow James Earl Jones Found His Voice Review posted November 12, 2024. Alfred A. Knopf, 2024. 48 pages. Review written November 8, 2024, from a library book. Starred Review 2024 Sonderbooks Standout: #4 Children's Nonfiction Ode to Grapefruit is an exquisitely illustrated picture book biography of James Earl Jones, the actor who gave us the voice of Darth Vader and Mufasa and so many other memorable characters.

Nov 1, 2024 | kirkusreviews.com | Kari Lavelle |Andrew Knapp

This appealing title showcases some of the most obvious adaptations that differentiate bird species, including size, feet, flight, nests, eggs, hatchlings, beaks, and vocalizations, each in a spread or two. A concluding spread summarizes these adaptations and adds the range of colors, obvious throughout Anderson’s careful collage portraits.

Aug 14, 2024 | kirkusreviews.com | Deborah Hopkinson |Kari Lavelle |Monica Brown |John Parra

A page-turning medical mystery that makes a compelling case for following the facts. Dr. John Snow, “the father of modern epidemiology,” discovers the cause of cholera. Behind every great scientist is evidence. When cholera broke out in London in 1854, most people blamed the “bad, smelly air” for the rapid spread of the disease.

Mar 26, 2024 | kirkusreviews.com | Leslie Booth |Stephanie Coleman |Kate Messner |Kari Lavelle

The long and busy life of a tree, from one small seed that beats the odds to a fertile locale for another, later one to grow.

Feb 20, 2024 | kirkusreviews.com | Laura Driscoll |Shelley Rotner |Kari Lavelle

Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard. Rotner follows Hello Spring (2017) with this salute to the fall season. Name a change seen in northern climes in fall, and Rotner likely covers it here, from plants, trees, and animals to the food we harvest: seeds are spread, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves change and fall (and are raked up and jumped in), some animals migrate, and many families celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving.