A must for middle-grade animal lovers.
Safina recounts time spent and insights gained among elephants and orcas in their native habitats.
The text, adapted from his 2015 book for adults, has been unerringly edited for young readers. Safina insists that the best research focuses on understanding the animals themselves. He subtly reminds readers of this while keeping them entranced by true stories highlighting the complex social behaviors, intelligence, and compassion of the largest land mammals and the largest dolphins on our planet. Of course, comparisons to ourselves cannot be ignored, as examples of these gentle giants teaching their young, being creative, and showing empathy abound. Photographs of daily lives of elephants and orcas accompany many of the short, conversational chapters. The first part of the book is devoted to elephants and the second to orcas, with a brief interlude in which the author describes similarities between the apparently disparate species. In one of many amusing quips, he invites readers to “think of it this way: An elephant is a mammal outfitted for hiking, a whale is outfitted for diving…under the gear, there’s a lot in common.” The hardest chapters are “Ivory” and “The Cost of Captivity,” which bring home the somber truths about horrific damage done to both species by human beings. However, the overall tone is a winning mixture of reverence, wonder, and even playfulness.
A must for middle-grade animal lovers. (notes, selected bibliography, index) (Nonfiction.10-14)Pub Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-14463-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
This glossy, colorful title in the “I Want To Be” series has visual appeal but poor organization and a fuzzy focus, which limits its usefulness. Each double-paged layout introduces a new topic with six to eight full-color photographs and a single column of text. Topics include types of environmentalists, eco-issues, waste renewal, education, High School of Environmental Studies, environmental vocabulary, history of environmentalism, famous environmentalists, and the return of the eagle. Often the photographs have little to do with the text or are marginal to the topic. For example, a typical layout called “Some Alternative Solutions” has five snapshots superimposed on a double-page photograph of a California wind farm. The text discusses ways to develop alternative forms of energy and “encourage environmentally friendly lifestyles.” Photos include “a healer who treats a patient with alternative therapy using sound and massage,” and “the Castle,” a house built of “used tires and aluminum cans.” Elsewhere, “Did You Know . . . ” shows a dramatic photo of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but the text provides odd facts such as “ . . . that in Saudi Arabia there are solar-powered pay phones in the desert?” Some sections seem stuck in, a two-page piece on the effects of “El Niño” or 50 postage-stamp–sized photos of endangered species. The author concludes with places to write for more information and a list of photo credits. Pretty, but little here to warrant purchase. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201862-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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