A beautifully conceived invitation: to look, see, wonder.
Set within 12 ethereal “rooms,” 29 poems contemplate the wonders of Earth, sea, sky, and beyond.
Co-authors Dotlich and Heard each offer one or more poems on each double-page spread. For “Room of Curiosity,” Dotlich lists 10 questions about Earth (as well as Saturn and meteorites), while Heard presents a two-line, koanlike verse: “Keep an open heart, / that’s where curiosity likes to start.” In “Room of Praise,” poems celebrate raindrops, house spiders, and paper: “the way it is so papery / as it waits for me / to trace my hand / or spill my heart.” The poets infuse their verse with vibrant, child-accessible imagery. A pond’s whirligig beetles twirl “like tiny bumper cars that never touch.” “Thunder drums the skin of sky, / striking / an / electric / scar / from cloud to cloud.” Freedman’s depictions of vaporous clouds and starry skies have a watercolorlike look. Against these miasmas, she places images of tools and utensils (a pencil appears repeatedly), windows, fire escape ladders, visual jokes, and more, in a palette contrasting warm earth tones with blue-grays that evoke water and sky; several pages are reminiscent of vintage scientific illustration. This slim volume teems with STEAM extensions, from exploring poetic forms and devices to investigating scientific facts and hypotheses. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A beautifully conceived invitation: to look, see, wonder. (Picture book/poetry. 6-10)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781635927627
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Wordsong/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
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