Platt (Stephen Biesty's Incredible Explosions, 1996, etc.) doesn't really explain inventions here, as David Macaulay did in The Way Things Work (1988); rather, he makes note of them and their time frame and how they benefitted humans. The structure of the book is chronological, starting with early tools and the use of fire and proceeding to, with many stops between, the X-30 spaceplane. The strength of the book is the way it conveys the global nature of inventions—from Chinese gunpowder to Peruvian reed boats, Persian windmills, and African bellows—and how they fit snuggly with the requirements of the places in which they were created. There are weaknesses here, too: Musical instruments never appear, discoveries are confused with inventions (DNA is included), and much is left unexplained—how does the astrolabe work, why did Gramme's dynamo stay cool and generate constant current, what is silk? Worse is the relentlessly upbeat narrative: ``Today scientists and engineers . . . create smart new machines which make our lives better,'' Platt chirps, with no cautionary notes—the genetic engineering of plants goes uncontested, livestock farms warrant ungarnished accolades. (diagrams, chronology, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 31, 1997
ISBN: 0-8050-4876-6
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
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
Simon tackles his latest natural disaster in trademark but not very modern style. Information on hurricanes is clearly presented but poorly organized, and lacks any sense of drama or story. Aimed at the same age group as Dorothy Souza’s Hurricanes (1996) and Patricia Lauber’s Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms, this falls short of both, often going into too much pedantic detail—the wind speeds of tropical depressions versus tropical storms—while failing to put needed perspective on some of the more eye-popping statistics. A hurricane can move more than a million cubic miles of atmosphere per second—but the naked numbers are essentially meaningless to students who think of millions in terms of ballplayers’ salaries and can’t imagine cubic miles at all. Photos of smashed houses and boats in front yards add excitement, but others—plain clouds?—detract; some are very grainy when blown up to the requisite full page. Formulaic and a numbing read-aloud. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-688-16291-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
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