Review by Booklist Review
This environmental book is different, and not just because it features simple, jaunty rhymes and adorable moles. Of course, moles are known for digging holes, and here they show humans the impact their digging has on Earth's health. Double-page spreads depict moles and their holes in a colorful range of textured, earth-toned soils and bedrock. Some holes are entertaining, like those made when playing in the sand at the beach ("We dig holes for fun, alone or in groups"); others, like water wells and room for sanitation pipes ("holes for pipes to get rid of poops"), are necessary for a healthy society. But it's the deeper holes, such as drilling for oil and fracking, that cause concern. A culminating cityscape with black smoke above the skyline and greenish liquid (presumably toxins) running underground suggests harmful consequences await the future. A final scene shows the moles helping the environment by using their holes to plant seeds and trees. Because terms aren't defined, young children may need help with the science.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2--Badger's picture book debut has a well-intentioned message: Some excavation is good, much is ecologically bad. Tiny cute cartoon-like moles operate diggers; poop into pipes; rise from the cemetery, becoming minute zombies; hunker in a nuclear bunker. But uncertain prosody undermines the rhythm, and strained rhymes produce vague phrases: Are we worried that the future "may not be kind," or that it will be absolutely unlivable? Does an oil spill at sea merely "cause a commotion"? The conclusion is especially problematic: An urban setting is shown as polluted (though environmentalists advocate human density as preferable to sprawl), while beneath a garden scene the text urges that "With the help of all the moles/ let's make something more than holes." The busy underground cross-sections, borrowing from ant farms, dictate one-on-one reading. VERDICT Maze-crazy readers will like tracing the excavations, though adult environmentalists might well fault the overall product for the lack of message, which leaves readers without specific steps or solutions.--Patricia D. Lothrop, formerly at St. George's Sch., Newport, RI
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An exploration of the many reasons that humans dig holes. Standing in for their two-legged counterparts, anthropomorphized moles enact the drama, while rhyming verse employing first-person-plural pronouns spins the narrative: "We dig holes for fun, / alone or in groups, / and holes for pipes / to get rid of poops." While some openings in the ground yield gold, fossils, or crops, the emphasis is on holes that are unsound ecologically. These lead to oil leaks in the ocean, contaminate drinking water, consist of "damaging designs," (the practice of fracking, overseen by "Exxoff"). The digitally collaged watercolors are composed in double-page spreads; cross sections of what's underground rise halfway up the pages. Though the book is undoubtedly well intentioned, the execution suffers in several ways. The positive and negative purposes of holes are interspersed, and the minimal text does not provide enough context for children with little experience of the complex concepts (radiation, detonation, bomb shelters) to understand the differences. The rhyme schemes and sentence constructions are often awkward: "We shape our world / and leave behind / a future that / may not be kind." Some images seem utterly arbitrary and nonsensical, as in the appearance of doughnuts when describing how the quantity of holes is "almost rude. / We even put holes in our food!" While aspects of the illustrations convey whimsy, the message falls flat. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
