Review by Booklist Review
This unassuming picture book is a nifty lesson in scientific classification. The reader is introduced to Josephine, a young girl of color. Josephine kicks things off when she places herself within the classification group that most readers will recognize, family. I am a human being, and so is my mom, and so is my dad, and so is my baby brother Felix. She is also a mammal, an animal, and a living thing. Above all, she is unique. With each classification, Josephine provides examples for comparing and contrasting. She is a mammal, like a groundhog, but she is obviously different, too. She is a living thing, like a tree and a groundhog, but still different. The combination of science lesson and find-and-search works brilliantly. An accessible end-matter list of the key characteristics of each group is included. The illustrations are colorful and cheerful, much like the book itself, which concludes by bringing the reader into the fold with, Josephine is a human being . . . and so are you. --Dean, Kara Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Josephine, a girl with brown skin and a mop of curly hair, proudly describes her place in the world, explaining that she is a human being, mammal, animal, and living thing ("and so is my brother, Felix, and so is a butterfly, and so is a tree, and so is a penguin"). Lee uses bright pastel blues, yellows, and peaches to create happy assemblages of living creatures while subtly showing how animals and people care for each other, hurt themselves, and otherwise interact; in addition to Josephine's main narrative, Thornhill incorporates seek-and-find prompts throughout this romp through forests, seas, cities, and fields. It's a smart way to introduce the characteristics that unite and distinguish members of the natural world, and a closing section of bulleted lists helps to explain the differences between these categoies of living things. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Horn Book Review
In this simple, cheery introduction to biology, Josephine describes her place in the natural world--as a human, a mammal, an animal, and a living thing. Two helpful appended pages list characteristics of these four groups, and the final page reminds readers they are each unique. Bright illustrations invite participation: e.g., "How many different kinds of mammals can you find on this page? (c) Copyright 2017. 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
Exuberant Josephine catalogs her place in the world, painting each example on an easel. Human, mammal, animal, living thingJosephine has a variety of identities, but shes also unique. The pattern of this simple classification exercise is regular. Josephine labels herself as part of a group, adds other organisms that fit into the category, and then asks readers to count the similar organisms shown on a spread. The special appeal lies in the illustrative details. The creatures are simply shaped but clearly identifiable. Lookers and listeners will enjoy brown-skinned Josephines many moods and her activities, from cartwheeling to struggling to brush her curly hair to snorkeling, skating, and leading a parade. Josephine paints from jars of rose, blue-greens, and grey-browns; her illustrator adds smoky yellows and orange to give the whole design a cheery, greeting-card feel. A cityscape shows a wide variety of people engaged in interesting activities. Later pages lend themselves to identification games. Humans from all over the world are shown (but not labeled) in typical activities. Animals range from jellyfish to whales, and living things include vignettes of animals and plants together. Adults may puzzle over the appearance of a worm on a page of mammals; perhaps it makes the moles tunnel easier to understand. A charmingly simple way to help children see how they fit into the world around them. (Informational picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
