Visually attractive but cursory.
Readers are invited to wander Regent Street in London, La Rambla in Barcelona, Rynok Square in Lviv, Ukraine, and Hàng Bac in Hanoi, among others.
A well-traveled adult or even an armchair traveler may appreciate the lively sketches, emphasizing the architecture, transportation, and crowds in these busy urban sites. Will children? Perhaps not, despite the inclusion of some unusual global locales, such as the Rue de Bougounni, a large marketplace in Bamako, Mali, and Hatogaya, in Shirakawa, Japan, a historic street with “sloping, thatched roofs [that] prevent snow from piling up on top of the houses.” A few children are pictured having fun: Two kids play soccer in the Calleja de las Flores in Córdoba, Spain, and two other children make a snowman in the Japanese spread. Other kids are depicted walking alongside adults. The facts accompanying the illustrations are sometimes inadequate. The Anne Frank House receives prominent mention in the paragraph about Amsterdam’s Prinsengracht, but it’s impossible to tell whether it’s in the picture. The text about Calle 3 in Medellín, Colombia, mentions that “ten years ago, its residents barely dared to go outside” due to “the constant clashes between the army and drug gangs.” Without a specific year, the reference will be meaningless in the future. There is no map showing the various cities, nor any resources for readers motivated to learn more.
Visually attractive but cursory. (Informational picture book. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7403-1
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2019
Like the Vasa, this feels not quite seaworthy.
Who’s to blame when everything goes wrong?
In the early 1600s, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden ordered the construction of a mighty warship to be the flagship of his navy. After two years’ construction, the mighty Vasa was ready to sail on the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1628. Less than a mile into its maiden voyage, the Vasa, along with her crew and their families, sank into Stockholm’s harbor. After the calamity, Sweden began an investigation into why the ship so easily capsized. The results were inconclusive, although Freedman implies that the king’s desire for a superfluity of cannons may have been the cause. Centuries later, in the mid-1950s, the Vasa was raised and restored. Now housed in the Stockholm Museum, the Vasa is a popular tourist attraction. Freedman provides a lot of information to his readers, but with its compression into the picture-book format, the pacing is rushed. The ending—relating a reclaimed cannon to Sweden’s history of peace—feels tangential at best. Hopefully, curious readers will seek out the additional information about the Vasa, shipwrecks, and restoration provided in the bibliography. Low’s digital illustrations are sumptuous and stunning, and they could pass for traditional paintings. It’s unfortunate that the text does not live up to the artwork.
Like the Vasa, this feels not quite seaworthy. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62779-866-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Godwin Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2018
Budding scientists are likely to find the book more confusing than illuminating.
This guide to objects may leave readers with more questions than answers.
A plethora of common objects—most tangible and one intangible—are examined and their creations or uses are explained to readers. In theory, at least. The initial page presents a key to the flow of information in the book: A dashed line means airflow. Or energy flow. Or liquid flow. A solid line denotes the direction an object will move, a pattern of dots shows air pressure, etc. The guide is a child version of IKEA instructions—so visually simple yet so complex! Inside, toy figurines (of both black and white people) occasionally guide the action, while complex text explains the physics or physical properties of the object in question. The backmatter provides additional information, linked via words set in boldface in the main text, but there is no pronunciation guide for reach words (“filament,” “opaque,” “resistance,” etc.). The items described in the book are common but at times seem to be questionable choices: An incandescent light bulb—labeled “Light Bulb”—is shown and described rather than a compact florescent or an LED, and the energy-efficient models are not mentioned. Readers learn that crayons often get their colors from natural materials such as “slate,” “iron ore,” and the vaguely labeled “minerals” (implying that slate and iron ore are not).
Budding scientists are likely to find the book more confusing than illuminating. (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-338-21545-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
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