A stellar guide that engages readers with rocks, minerals, fossils, and shells.
Divided into well-organized, color-coded parts, this entry in the Outdoor School series promotes a get-out-there-and-do-it approach.
The book opens with “Rocks & Minerals,” covering the differences between the two, basic geology, and how rocks form. Armed with this knowledge, readers are encouraged to find rock samples and are walked through questions to classify their discoveries. Accessible and encouraging language as well as space to write down findings and check off tasks accomplished make this science fun and personal. The second section, “Fossils,” builds on readers’ acquired knowledge that sedimentary rocks are the best place to find fossils and gives them the tools needed to go out searching on their own. Information on setting up a dig, stabilizing delicate fossils, numbering discoveries, and more, is presented. A basic geologic time scale assists in identifying fossil age. The final part, “Shells,” has the same informative and user-friendly organization. Information on how shells are formed and their basic classification categories is paired with the hands-on activities of finding, cleaning, labelling, and identifying. Each section concludes with an illustrated informational guide showing common examples of the specimens under consideration and covering a broad geographical distribution. The superb content is presented in a sturdily bound volume with metal-edged corners that will hold up well in field conditions.
A stellar guide that engages readers with rocks, minerals, fossils, and shells. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23065-2
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Odd Dot
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)
Babies and engineers have more in common than you think.
In this book, Alexander highlights the unlikely similarities between babies and engineers. Like engineers, babies ask questions, enjoy building, and learn from their mistakes. Black’s bold, colorful illustrations feature diverse babies and both male- and female-presenting adult characters with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, effectively demonstrating that engineers can be any race or either gender. (Nonbinary models are a little harder to see.) The story ends with a reassurance to the babies in the book that “We believe in you!” presumably implying that any child can be an engineer. The end pages include facts about different kinds of engineers and the basic process used by all engineers in their work. Although the book opens with a rhythmic rhyming couplet, the remaining text lacks the same structure and pattern, making it less entertaining to read. Furthermore, while some of the comparisons between babies and engineers are both clever and apt, others—such as the idea that babies know where to look for answers—are flimsier. The book ends with a text-heavy spread of facts about engineering that, bereft of illustrations, may not hold children’s attention as well as the previous pages. Despite these flaws, on its best pages, the book is visually stimulating, witty, and thoughtful.
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31223-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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