A rewarding exploration of a common substance’s complex nature.
From hummocks and bummocks to frazil and floebergs, an introduction in poems and explanatory notes to ice’s many states and formations.
Gianferrari’s sonorous drifts of free verse are sometimes confusingly allusive on first reading—“Cat ice whorls / Swirl and twirl. / Brinicles sink, / Plume and bloom. // Pancake ice stacks / Smack and crack”—but make clearer sense after examining the illustrations and reading the extensive notes at the end. Readers who think ice in nature comes only in sheets, floating chunks, or icicles are in for an eye-opening experience as, in naturalistic vignettes and vistas, Chen depicts silky strands of hair ice around twigs and needle-thin spikes emerging from frozen ground; freezing seawater undergoing subtle color changes while crystallizing from “frazil” to “grease ice,” “nilas,” and ultimately free-floating sea ice; and, when temperatures rise, aging into “rotten” or “candle” ice before melting to begin the “ice cycle” again. Though the author neglects to note that water boils at 212 degrees only at sea level (and simplistically claims that it comes only in three states), she finishes off handsomely, listing types of terrestrial and marine ice (of which “new” sea ice alone has seven); explaining how floebits, floebergs, brash ice, and growlers are distinguished by their size ranges; defining numerous other special terms; then closing with leads to books, videos, and science projects. Bundled-up human figures in the pictures are rare and small but do show variations in skin color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A rewarding exploration of a common substance’s complex nature. (Informational picture book/poetry. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72843-660-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.
Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.
Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543181
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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