Scratches young geologists’ itch for knowledge.
What lurks deep within the Earth, beneath our feet?
As two children—one brown-skinned, one pale-skinned—build a sand castle by the shore, Fox peppers readers with questions (“What’s inside our planet?” “Why do volcanoes form and continents shift?”), then invites them to look for answers: “Let’s explore.” Her calm, lyrical text is both poetic and practical. The crust is “where worms wriggle and writhe,” but miles down, the temperature is “twice as hot as an oven baking cookies.” Though the unseen narrator references both Mt. Everest and Russia’s Kola Borehole, most scenes are set so far below the surface that they could be anywhere on the globe. The author injects the text with small doses of geology such as brief explanations of temperature and pressure, plate tectonics, what scientists can learn from earthquakes, and the astonishing life-giving function of the inner core. Fox’s praise of “the great thing about science” shades into a bigger observation: “We learn and we guess and we try and we fail and we try again. We hope to be right more often than we’re wrong. It’s a lot like being human.” Brown’s illustrations use bold, imaginative compositions, with cutaways, fluid lines, and vibrant, varied color to add drama as she switches from scenes of people exploring the world aboveground and the hidden world deep below.
Scratches young geologists’ itch for knowledge. (author’s note, information on the scientific method, glossary, further reading, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781630793326
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Capstone Editions
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
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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