Still, fun to play with despite flaws in design and execution.
Big illustrations that look like garish jumbles resolve as if by magic into views of landforms, wildlife, and cultural treasures when viewed through colored plastic filters.
Using the same gimmick that made Illuminature (2016) and Illuminatomy (2017) eye-catching fare for browsers, this world tour features 10 double-page–spread assemblages in overlaid red, green, and cyan layers. Each main picture encompasses all or part of a continent. Each of these is preceded by a key that identifies 18 items to spot and is followed by brief descriptive notes on the designated “cultural highlights” and “natural wonders.” Peering through the three-window viewer tucked into a front pocket isolates single layers: green reveals a map; blue a selection of geographically relevant flora and fauna; red a set of iconic artifacts or buildings. The individual figures, which are done in a heavy, naturalistic style, resemble sophisticated steel engravings and have been pieced together with more of an eye for artistic effect than relative scale or logical arrangement. Moreover, the blue filter is so dark that the scene looks murky through it no matter how bright the lighting, and the notes are afflicted with factual and proofing errors—the Liberty Bell isn’t “a symbol of the fight to end slavery,” and “Columbia” is not a country.
Still, fun to play with despite flaws in design and execution. (Informational novelty. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78603-167-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...
Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.
One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
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