A wide-angled review, but useful for raising awareness of a topic of great and growing concern.
A plea to address food anxieties by wasting less, being more efficient with current resources, and exploring alternative sources.
Best thought of as a discussion starter, Clendenan’s survey is light on fine details but spotlights a great array of food-related topics. The author makes quick nods toward both cautionary and inspiring incidents, from the ill-supplied Robert Scott Antarctic expedition to how a marooned group of Polynesian youths got by on a deserted island for 15 months in 1965. More recently, Clendenan describes the way the Russian invasion prompted Ukrainian restaurant owners to provide free meals to refugees. She also details creative ways in which people have met technical challenges, such as the invention of packaged salads for the military or growing food in outer space. In an overview of the history of farming, the author points to agroforestry (planting trees and shrubs alongside crops) as a potentially sustainable agricultural practice while warning of the problems posed by monoculture crops. She forthrightly suggests that, along with food that’s now being thrown away for cosmetic or other poor reasons (“landfill salad”), more seaweed, insects, lab-grown meat, and 3D-printed foods will soon be on the general menu. The visuals—a mix of color photos and Lim’s illustrations—underscore the worldwide diversity of different kinds of foodstuffs as well as the humans who consume them.
A wide-angled review, but useful for raising awareness of a topic of great and growing concern. (glossary, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781459836761
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
A well-intentioned description of life before birth. The illustrations make use of photographs (including ultrasound) and artist’s drawings, often in the same image, and these are well used to clarify the text. How babies grow and develop inside the womb is both described and illustrated, and while the tone is one of forced cheer, the information is sound. Also offered are quite silly exercises for children to experience what life in the womb might be like, such as listening to a dishwasher to experience the sounds a baby hears inside its mother’s body, or being held under a towel or blanket by an adult and wiggling about. The getting-together of sperm and egg is lightly passed over, as is the actual process of birth. But children may be mesmerized by the drawings of the growing child inside the mother, and what activities predate their birth dates. Not an essential purchase, but adequate as an addition to the collection. (Picture book/nonfiction. 4-8)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-894379-01-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Firefly
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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