Occupies both scientific and literary orbits, ably if not incandescently.
A tour of the solar system in prose, poetry, and prosody.
Atop Averill’s dramatic, impressionistic views of solar explosions, gas giants floating on starry backdrops, and craggy planetary landscapes, Lewis floats 14 poems in as many forms, each on a gatefold flap concealing general descriptions of both the poem’s type and subject. The tour kicks off with “A Sonnet for the Solar System” (“A family made of many complex parts, / Our solar system’s great adventure starts”), an analysis of the typical metrics and structure of a Shakespearean sonnet, and an overview of our solar neighborhood from the sun to the Oort Cloud. From there on, Venus, for example, gets a villanelle, Saturn a sestina, Jupiter’s striped disk is filled with a round concrete poem, and the Kuiper Belt (“a belted donut salsa on stormy seas”) a “prose poem,” recognizable as such by a preponderance of images and metaphors. “Scientists,” she writes, “use metaphors all the time to help us understand what’s in our universe.” In both prose and hip-hop–style verse, she closes with invitations to “future astronomers” and other readers to keep the outward flight going. The poems show clearer signs of deliberate composition than inspiration, and the factual payload (mostly, the author acknowledges, drawn from a single NASA website) is relatively light; still, budding wordsmiths and skywatchers alike will find the ride worth taking.
Occupies both scientific and literary orbits, ably if not incandescently. (glossary, resource lists) (Informational picture book/poetry. 7-10)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781525304422
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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