A dramatic demonstration of geologic time for thoughtful readers and listeners.
Over billions of years of history, Earth has undergone amazing changes.
With a lyrical text and 16 illustrations bleeding across each spread, this picture book surveys the immense stretch of time between the formation of the Earth and the heavily populated planet we know today. Gladstone’s free-verse poem describes stages: lifeless molten rock and poison gas; mountains forming; rain filling the oceans; life beginning as “mats of slimy green” and “mounds of strange rock”; oxygen filling the air; life evolving in the oceans and then on land; species living, thriving, and dying; until, finally, the species we know today appear, including “people like you and me.” Concluding that “human life is a speck in time in the history of old Earth,” the author reminds readers that Earth is “greener and bluer, / more comfortable and much cooler” than it was billions of years ago when it was new. A final spread repeats all the illustrations as thumbnails, asking readers to look again for specific details the painter included. Created using a mix of ink, collage, and digital media, Diemert’s images are allusive and striking. The text is set on a band of color that matches the dominant color of each painting. The narrative, though simple, is relatively accurate, reflecting current scientific thinking.
A dramatic demonstration of geologic time for thoughtful readers and listeners. (glossary, author’s note, sources) (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77147-203-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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