Be patient and take your time savoring this wonderful offering.
“Some of the most magical things in life…take time and are full of WONDER.”
Following an introduction that explains the origins of the word patience (from the Latin patientia, “to endure” or “to wait”), this well-written compendium of scientific facts, first published in the U.K., presents captivating, child-appealing information about the natural world, from phenomena that occur extremely quickly (light from the sun reaches Earth in eight minutes) to events involving longer periods (a camel can go without water for two weeks as it crosses the desert) to those taking place over the course of years (a rainforest regrows over about six decades). Each set of facts is presented on a two-page spread, beginning with a one-minute phenomenon (the human heart beats 60-100 times in one minute) and concluding with an over-100-years milestone (a Galápagos giant tortoise can live more than a century). Very lively, clear explanations are delivered in a conversational tone. The text is ably abetted by numerous dynamic, child-centric illustrations, rendered in pencil and digitally colored, that are set in easy-to-navigate panels, graphic novel–style, featuring racially diverse background characters. Dashed lines helpfully guide readers through the spreads to facilitate learning.
Be patient and take your time savoring this wonderful offering. (index, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781419774638
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Magic Cat
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 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
A generally attractive and entertaining medical reference that will appeal to inquiring minds.
A compendium of low-key medical information for the upper grade school set.
Got a headache? A rash? A pulled muscle or a sprained ankle? Disease by disease and injury by injury, this basic medical text takes young readers through various ailments, breaking each one down into a simple explanation of the problem. There’s “First Response”—what the child can do to help alleviate the situation; “What Your Doctor Does”—which sometimes includes the advice that a doctor may not be necessary in many cases; “What Your Body Does”—the physiological response to the problem; and “What You Can Do to Prevent…”—common-sense health and safety advice. Often-humorous cartoon illustrations are featured on nearly every spread, along with high-quality color photographs of various ailments (sprained ankle, conjunctivitis, etc.). Each section includes an “Ouch! Pain Scale,” a facial icon that indicates the degree of pain caused, although some offer such a range as to seem superfluous. While the explanations are basic and utilize kid-friendly words like germs, puke and poop, this effort also offers solid information, including terms like granulocytes and phagocytosis. These trickier words are defined clearly in the text and included in an extensive glossary. Unfortunately, no references are included. Photo captions are presented in a small, pale orange, italicized text that’s challenging to read.
A generally attractive and entertaining medical reference that will appeal to inquiring minds. (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-62354-005-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Imagine Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2013
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