Effectively demonstrates that small can be fascinating.
Detailed, colorful watercolor art accompanies pages of information about the smallest members of these groups: mollusks, annelids, and arthropods.
A pleasingly designed table of contents lists titles and subheadings for five chapters, plus these backmatter pages: “The insect orchestra,” “Answers to questions,” and “Index of tiny creatures.” Each chapter begins with a selection of facts about its specific topic, then presents ways for young naturalists to further explore tiny creatures. The text is graceful, and vocabulary and systems including metamorphosis, larvae, molt, elytra (elsewhere, confusingly, called elytrons), parthenogenesis, hemolymph, and stridulate are clearly explained. However, such words as articulated, undulate, and inseminated will not necessarily be understood in context. Oddly, occasional quizzes pop up, with terse answers at the book’s end—and no explanations in the text. The same two children grace each chapter, one Asian-presenting and one White-presenting, both with sweetly flushed cheeks. Emphasis is on European flora and fauna, but there is plenty of crossover into North America. Entomologists are still trying to learn whether painted ladies and monarchs make their mythic, long migrations as individuals or in generations, but the text reports only the more dramatic idea of one butterfly traveling thousands of miles to and from its hatching grounds. Gentle humor and deep respect for tiny creatures—plus, inexplicably, lobsters—comes through in a book well suited for browsing.
Effectively demonstrates that small can be fascinating. (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-61689-974-5
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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
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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