Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (Junior Library Guild Selection (Charlesbridge Hardcover)) [Hardcover]

Fiona Bayrock (Author), Carolyn Conahan (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: Junior Library Guild Selection (Charlesbridge Hardcover)

Bubbles are for popping, fishing, talking-and for sailing, keeping warm, and even shooting hoops! Who knew animals used bubbles in so many ways? Learn how the water spider builds an underwater bubble home, how snapping shrimp pop bubbles to scare other animals, and how dolphins play with bubbles as if it's a game. Whether they are riding, breathing, or making bubbles, one thing is for sure-animals use bubbles in amazing ways. Real-world science meets tongue-in-cheek humor to describe how animals use bubbles. Includes back matter and a glossary and index.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2–4—Fast Repetitive Tick (FaRT) is the term scientists use to describe the flatulencelike noise that herring make as they communicate their locations to one another other. That might be the most amusing description of the uses of bubbles in the natural world, but this entire book is enjoyable and engaging. From the protective hiding places young juniper spittlebugs create to the foamy nest that the African gray treefrog whips up around her freshly laid eggs in the branches above a pool, bubbles are described and pictured. The illustrations are pale and less-detailed versions of scientifically accurate drawings overlaid with entertaining comments, e.g., parent frogs admonish, "Careful, kids!" and "Don't talk to any predators!" The comments may be corny, but they infuse the information with fun. The single-page glossary defines terms simply and effectively, e.g., flatulence is described as "The scientific name for farting." Two spreads of "More amazing facts…" offer additional information about each species' habitat, location, and physical attributes. Creative, accessible, and fact-filled.—Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

This intriguing book shows the surprisingly varied ways in which bubbles are incorporated in animals lives. A watercolor painting fills each double-page spread, while superimposed headings identify the species and the purpose of its bubbles ( Keeping Warm, Running, Breathing, Playing ) and a paragraph of text explains what it does. For instance, a humpback whale swims in circles to create a bubble net, herding fish toward the center, where they can be scooped into its enormous mouth. Juniper spittlebug nymphs encase themselves in a mound of gooey foam that protects them until they are ready to molt. These and other animals techniques for creating and using bubbles are well described in succinct paragraphs. Thought balloons, carrying brief comments from the animals, add a bit of levity. A glossary and four pages of amazing facts are appended. Illustrated with finesse, this attractive book introduces 16 bubble makers, from insects to humans. --Booklist

Grades 2-4 --This entire book is enjoyable and engaging...overlaid with entertaining comments...creative, accessible, and fact-filled. March 2009 --School LIbrary Journal

Bayrock's writing is dynamic, with onomatopoeic language and kid-friendly comparisons to engage and inform. March 2009 --Junior Library Guild

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing; New edition (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570916691
• ISBN-13: 978-1570916694
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,487,747 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bubbles, bubbles, toil and troubles, August 2, 2009

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (Junior Library Guild Selection (Charlesbridge Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

When someone goes about writing a non-fiction picture book for kids they have two choices before them. They can either write a book that they know will be used strictly for curriculum use, or they can write a book about a fun and funny topic that no one has ever tackled in a picture book format before. So while Fiona Bayrock could have written yet another ocean book / fish book / sea life book / animal life book / zzzzzz, she instead decided to go a different route. A bubble route. The premise? Bubbles have far reaching applications in the natural world, above and beyond their usual uses and ramifications. And somehow or other she has managed to find not one, not two, not three or four or five but SIXTEEN examples in the wild where animals and insects have used bubbles to save, play, help, and harm. A unique idea in a singular format.

Your average bubble has a whole host of applications you've probably never considered before. For creatures in the wild, however, bubbles aren't just for fun. They have practical applications ranging from the useful to the downright weird. Systematically author Fiona Bayrock introduces readers to animals like the star-nosed mole, who blows bubbles out its nose, then sucks them back in to smell for food. Or consider the rattlebox moth whose bad-tasting bubbles are so nasty even spiders will cut them free from their webs. One by one, Bayrock introduces us to bubble utilizers, ending with the only creature that uses bubbles to save other species: humans. Illustrator Carolyn Conahan provides light-hearted commentary and watercolors to complement Bayrock's text. The end of the book contains additional facts about each of these "bubble makers", including size, location, and "Amazing Facts". There is also a Glossary/Index.

The format's smart. Each section begins with a sentence explaining what these bubbles can do. "Bubbles Are For Sailing", "Bubbles Are For Breathing", "Bubbles Are For Tasting - Yuck!" That sort of thing. Bayrock then uses a very natural easygoing literary style to describe precisely what makes each of these bubble-users unique. Her text is always engaging, even when the featured creature is as average as a Homo sapien. Bayrock also has a way of phrasing a section just right. The Pearl Gourami two-page spread is preceded by the introduction "Bubbles Are For Shooting Hoops". And sure enough she makes a pretty strong case for how one would consider this fish an expert basketball player. I imagine that even if a child initially picks up this book because it contains a favorite animal of theirs (like a sea otter or a dolphin) they'll find themselves drawn to other sections of the book. After all, it's hard to resist farting fish communication techniques or frogs that begin life by diving.

You will note when you read the book that for each animal there's some dialogue coming from the illustrations often pertaining to the text. At first I suspected that somewhere along the line the proposition was made to spice up Conahan's lovely watercolors with this small amusing commentary from the creatures involved. These usually take the form of speech bubbles (ha ha), and are not too dissimilar from the kind of thing one sees in the margins of Cricket Magazine, the literary mag for kids. Then I remembered something: illustrator Carolyn Conahan is actually the staff illustrator for Cricket. Why, she's probably more than comfortable drawing natural creatures with snarky attitudes and quick-witted commentary! Remembering that I realized that the format of this pictures must have been in place right from the start.

Seemingly simple, a closer examination of Conahan's art yields rewards. For example, there are the endpapers. At a glance I just saw two kids drawing a mural on a wall, one of them painting and the other one blowing bubbles for fun. Looking closer, though, I see that Conahan has actually worked in all sixteen of the different critters into that mural. It's actually a good way to determine how many of these bubble lovers are sea-based (twelve) and how many make do on the land (four). Her natural world is rendered in soft greens and blues, working in the whirling swirling ocean currents that make so many of these bubbles possible. In the opening image we see a girl blowing them, one floating directly in front of her eye. Considering how beautiful bubbles are, and how they have a way of whirling and swirling colors and light together, I felt a little sad that these bubbles didn't try for a little real world iridescence. Then again, it's not that kind of art style, and it's wrong to critique an artist for having their own way of looking at the world and not someone else's. Still, a little whirly swirly color would have been cool.

I can't imagine that there are many schools out there where kids are handed an assignment to read a book about fine n' fancy bubble makers. What I can imagine are scores of kids who will think that bubbles make for some pretty funny stories. For the wildlife-minded child, "Bubble Homes and Fish Farts" takes the natural world and gives it a whole new spin. Silly and serious all at once, it may not be for every child, but for some it's bound to provide info they can't find anywhere else. Or certainly, not as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science can be fun, March 6, 2009

By 

Susan Denney - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bubble Homes and Fish Farts (Junior Library Guild Selection (Charlesbridge Hardcover)) (Hardcover)

This book has a really high "G" rating. This means that while you're reading it, you find yourself constantly saying "Gee, I didn't know that!" Fiona Bayrock has found some fascinating ways that animals use bubbles. Kids will love the illustrations and the readable and clever text. For a child who already loves science, this book will be a favorite. For a child who needs a little push to get interested in science, this book is highly recommended. Even adults can learn a lot from this book.