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THE SEARCH FOR SEISMOSAURUS

Name: THE SEARCH FOR SEISMOSAURUS
Author: J. Lynett Gillette
ISBN: 0-8037-1358-4

THE WORLD'S LONGEST DINOSAUR

by J. Lynett Gillette & illustrated by Mark Hallett ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1994

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Discovered in 1979 by two hikers in New Mexico, Seismosaurus was even bigger than Ultrasaurus or Supersaurus—a giant sauropod estimated to have been 150 feet long and to have weighed ten EEUs (Equivalent Elephant Units), approximately 50 tons. In 1985, paleontologists armed with computers and sophisticated sound wave tracking devices began the difficult process of freeing the giant fossils from tons of sandstone; the author, a paleontologist involved with the dig, also explains how scientists use everything from pick and shovel to neutron scattering accelerators to learn more about dinosaurs. Nature artist Hallett's paintings of the great creatures in their heyday are complemented by 30 excellent color photos from the dig. A splendid blend of adventure and science. Index. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 1, 1994

ISBN: 0-8037-1358-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

- BOOK REVIEW
DINOSAUR GHOSTS
by J. Lynett Gillette & illustrated by Douglas Henderson

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WEATHER

by Seymour Simon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1993

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Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-688-10546-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
CLIMATE ACTION
by Seymour Simon

- BOOK REVIEW
DINOSAURS
by Seymour Simon

- BOOK REVIEW
INSECTS
by Seymour Simon

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HOOT

by Carl Hiaasen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 10, 2002

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The straight-arrow son of a maybe-federal agent (he’s not quite sure) turns eco-terrorist in this first offering for kids from one of detective fiction’s funniest novelists. Fans of Hiaasen’s (Basket Case, 2001, etc.) novels for adults may wonder how well his profane and frequently kinky writing will adapt to a child’s audience; the answer is, remarkably well. Roy Eberhardt has recently arrived in Florida; accustomed to being the new kid after several family moves, he is more of an observer than a participant. When he observes a bare-footed boy running through the subdivisions of Coconut Grove, however, he finds himself compelled to follow and, later, to ally himself with the strange boy called Mullet Fingers. Meanwhile, the dimwitted but appealingly dogged Officer Delinko finds himself compelled to crack the case of the mysterious vandals at the construction site of a new Mother Paula’s All-American Pancake House—it couldn’t have anything to do with those cute burrowing owls, could it? The plot doesn’t overwhelm with surprises; even the densest readers will soon suss out the connections between Mullet Fingers, the owls, and Mother Paula’s steadfast denial of the owls’ existence. The fun lies in Hiaasen’s trademark twisted characters, including Dana Matherson, the class bully who regularly beats up on Roy and whose unwitting help Roy wickedly enlists; Beatrice Leep, Mullet Fingers’s fiercely loyal sister and co-conspirator; Curly, Mother Paula’s hilariously inept foreman; and Roy’s equally straight-arrow parents, who encourage him to do the right thing without exactly telling him how. Roy is rather surprisingly engaging, given his utter and somewhat unnatural wholesomeness; it’s his kind of determined innocence that sees through the corruption and compromises of the adult world to understand what must be done to make things right. If the ending is somewhat predictable, it is also entirely satisfying—Hoot is, indeed, a hoot. (Fiction. 10-14)