While children may enjoy the inviting art in these pages, the concepts, like sun shining in the sky, will be way, way over...
A baby explores heat and energy through a sunny day and a bite of an apple.
A white, onesie- and hat-wearing baby greets a smiling sun as Spiro’s text, one or two sentences per double-page spread, discusses how the sunshine gives us warmth and helps trees grow. In this case, it is an apple tree. Baby eats one of the fruits, and it gives the little one energy to play and grow. The coda states: “All living things get their energy from the sun.” Chan’s paintings in cheerful colors adroitly capture the young child’s wonder and joy in exploration. While adults may understand that the sun’s energy is fueling the growth of the apple tree and, in turn, providing the energy needed for the babe to develop into a toddler, most board-book readers will not begin to grasp the conservation of energy and thermodynamics as the title promises. The companion title, Baby Loves Quantum Physics! tackles an even more abstract concept: Schrödinger’s cat and quantum physics. A different tyke, with a slightly tanner complexion and brown hair, plays with a kitten. When Cat hides in the box, the child imagines the possibility that the feline is either awake or asleep (not, thank goodness, living or dead). As a game of hide-and-seek, the project is delightfully developmentally appropriate, but it takes a leap of huge proportions for this book to successfully explain to a toddler a concept most adults are hard-pressed to understand.
While children may enjoy the inviting art in these pages, the concepts, like sun shining in the sky, will be way, way over their heads. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-58089-768-6
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2018
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind.
Ten babies in 10 countries greet friends in almost 10 languages.
Countries of origin are subtly identified. For example, on the first spread, NYC is emblazoned on a blond, white baby’s hat as well as a brown baby’s scoot-car taxi. On the next spread, “Mexico City” is written on a light brown toddler’s bike. A flag in each illustration provides another hint. However, the languages are not named, so on first reading, the fine but important differences between Spanish and Portuguese are easily missed. This is also a problem on pages showing transliterated Arabic from Cairo and Afrikaans from Cape Town. Similarly, Chinese and Japanese are transliterated, without use of traditional hànzì or kanji characters. British English is treated as a separate language, though it is, after all, still English. French (spoken by 67 million people) is included, but German, Russian, and Hindi (spoken by 101 million, 145 million, and 370 million respectively) are not. English translations are included in a slightly smaller font. This world survey comes full circle, ending in San Francisco with a beige baby sleeping in an equally beige parent’s arms. The message of diversity is reinforced by images of three babies—one light brown, one medium brown, one white—in windows on the final spread.
A cheery board book to reinforce the oneness of babykind. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-938093-87-6
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Duo Press
Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed.
This book presents a simplified explanation of the role the atmosphere plays in controlling climate.
The authors present a planet as a ball and its atmosphere as a blanket that envelops the ball. If the blanket is thick, the planet will be hot, as is the case for Venus. If the blanket is thin, the planet is cold, as with Mars. Planet Earth has a blanket that traps “just the right amount of heat.” The authors explain trees, animals, and oceans are part of what makes Earth’s atmosphere “just right.” “But…Uh-oh! People on Earth are changing the blanket!” The book goes on to explain how some human activities are sending “greenhouse gases” into the atmosphere, thus “making the blanket heavier and thicker” and “making Earth feel unwell.” In the case of a planet feeling unwell, what would the symptoms be? Sea-level rises that lead to erosion, flooding, and island loss, along with extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, blizzards, and wildfires. Ending on a constructive note, the authors name a few of the remedies to “help our Earth before it’s too late!” By using the blanket analogy, alongside simple and clear illustrations, this otherwise complex topic becomes very accessible to young children, though caregivers will need to help with the specialized vocabulary.
Adults looking for an easy entry into this subject will not be disappointed. (Board book. 3-4)Pub Date: Aug. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4926-8082-6
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
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