Not useful for reference, though an enticing plaything for younger armchair travelers.
Animations and clever enhancements give this elementary atlas more flash than its print version (2011), but the content remains skimpy and poorly organized.
Built around a really quite cool cartoon globe that can be rotated at will, the app allows viewers to zoom in on any area or country. A tap opens a fact box that contains an animated national flag, basic information such as land area, capital city and (with location settings turned on) “Distance From Me.” There are also a handful of environmental facts such as average CO2 emissions per head and current weather (presumably in said capital). Audio narration and a snatch of localized music are optionally available as well. Alternatively, countries or world regions can also be selected through searchable lists linked to a corner icon or visited alphabetically using arrows at the bottom. In addition, tapping on any of the dozens of small buildings, flora or fauna, objects and human figures that festoon the globe opens a box with a link to a photo and an assortment of facts, albeit not always clearly presented ones. The “Brahman cattle” icon, for instance, indicates that though they are "[o]riginally from India, these cattle are now popular around the world," without explaining exactly why it's wandering across Brazil. There are no political boundaries except for country borders, and those are hard to find even at full zoom.
Not useful for reference, though an enticing plaything for younger armchair travelers. (iPad informational app. 5-8)Pub Date: March 15, 2012
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Continuing to find inspiration in the work of Virginia Lee Burton, Munro Leaf and other illustrators of the past, Long (The Little Engine That Could, 2005) offers an aw-shucks friendship tale that features a small but hardworking tractor (“putt puff puttedy chuff”) with a Little Toot–style face and a big-eared young descendant of Ferdinand the bull who gets stuck in deep, gooey mud. After the big new yellow tractor, crowds of overalls-clad locals and a red fire engine all fail to pull her out, the little tractor (who had been left behind the barn to rust after the arrival of the new tractor) comes putt-puff-puttedy-chuff-ing down the hill to entice his terrified bovine buddy successfully back to dry ground. Short on internal logic but long on creamy scenes of calf and tractor either gamboling energetically with a gaggle of McCloskey-like geese through neutral-toned fields or resting peacefully in the shade of a gnarled tree (apple, not cork), the episode will certainly draw nostalgic adults. Considering the author’s track record and influences, it may find a welcome from younger audiences too. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-399-25248-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2009
SEEN & HEARD
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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