Classroom libraries be warned: This one could wind up floating off your shelves.
Schoolmarms in space? Well, not exactly.
However, there is a one-room school. The Baxters, who present as Black and Latine, are a family of space travelers on the international space station OASIS. Mami and Papa’s work takes them to space, and this year, the station has opened up a school, so Abby and her little brother, Nico, can join their parents in space. The kids are ready for their first day at the OASIS One Pod Schoolhouse. With only 13 students aboard the space station, you might think school would be easy. Not exactly. Third grader Abby makes a new friend, Gracie Chen, who presents as Asian, but clashes with bossy fourth grader Dmitry (depicted as light-skinned in illustrations). The three of them set off on a quest when Abby discovers she has accidently swapped tablets with Mami. And on the day of her mother’s big experiment, too! By grounding the children in a setting that’s simultaneously familiar—the first day of school—and strange (in space), Loney offers an appealing take on the back-to-school story. Characterization is effective, such as Papa and his painfully bad puns (“Why did the little astronaut get in trouble at school?” “Because she kept spacing out!”). Accessible writing brimming with funny lines (“His socks smelled like sweat and peppermint. Who gets toothpaste on their toes?”) will hold readers’ attention. Takashi’s gray-toned illustrations depict a diverse group of students.
Classroom libraries be warned: This one could wind up floating off your shelves. (Chapter book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-0099-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts.
Beachcombers and shell seekers, gather ’round and meet Shelby and Watts, Planetary Investigators.
When Fred the hermit crab can’t find a new, larger shell to move into, he seeks out the “brilliant brains” of Shelby and Watts. Shelby, a fox, is the detective in the duo, and Watts, a badger, loves facts, adding simple fun ones—about hermit crabs, tides, tide-pool dwellers, how shells are used, etc.—throughout the story. Watts also loves to catalog clues in his notebook. In fact, the first mystery that Shelby solves is that of Watts’ lost notebook. Young readers can watch Shelby investigate, solve, and explain her deductive process, all while learning to carefully examine all the details in each graphic panel. Once the missing shells are found, it’s “time for the hermit crab shuffle,” in which the members of a colony of hermit crabs all line up and trade up to larger homes. Final pages include “Earth-Saving Tips from Shelby & Watts,” such as taking pictures of shells instead of collecting them, eating seafood from sustainable sources, and cleaning up the beach. The seven chapters are of varying length, but with several one-panel pages and many pages with low word count, the book is shorter than it appears, which should be a confidence boost for young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts. (Graphic early reader/mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20531-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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