A droll, effervescent, and wide-ranging work.
An illustrator’s valentine to colors is a globe-spanning tribute to art and its many forms of expression.
Taking each hue on the color wheel in succession and wedging in chapters on pink, black, and white, Weinberg answers the titular question in a lively and thought-provoking if “superly duperly” simplified way: Color is art, science, a recipe, a feeling, language, time, change, and, well, “Everything!” Though he only passingly refers to artificial colors, the topics he addresses are fascinating and clearly explained, from the flora and fauna that humans have ground up to create natural pigments to the electromagnetic spectrum to the arsenic-laced green wallpaper that may have killed Napoleon. Rightly noting that different people and cultures actually see colors differently, the author presents examples of art from a broad range of places and eras. Readers can compare and contrast Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait or King Tut’s mask with the art of First Nations Australian painter Emily Kame Kngwarreye and Haida wood and stone carver Charles Edenshaw. Conducting his tour in “person,” Weinberg incorporates informally drawn images of himself and his dog throughout, tucking in other artist portraits as well, notably in a hilarious spread of Raphael’s School of Athens. The result is a winning, impressively comprehensive multidisciplinary take on the topic. Closing with a wealth of further information and resources, Weinberg includes lists of color-centric stories, plus recipes for making natural dyes (with adult help). People represented feature a wide range of skin tones.
A droll, effervescent, and wide-ranging work. (glossary, map, table of elements, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781250833419
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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