Packed with vibrant photos and solid information, this work delivers an enthralling introduction to ballooning for kids.
In this nonfiction book for children ages 6 and up, photographs depict the colors, shapes, gear, pilots, and crews of hot air balloons.
The Pechters (What’s in the Deep?: An Underwater Adventure for Children, 1991), photojournalists who have also covered the undersea world, turn to the air in this volume. Documenting every step along the way with many vivid photos, the book explains everything about hot air ballooning for kids, beginning with the system and its parts (envelope, basket or gondola, and burner, together with gear and instruments); readying the ground; safety checks; inflating the balloon; piloting difficulties; safety issues; landing; and packing back up. Readers learn details, such as the best times to fly and the importance of a chase crew, plus odd facts: “The average balloon is as tall as a 7-story building.” The authors nicely convey the excitement of ballooning for spectators, as the envelopes slowly fill and the baskets at last begin to rise, as well as fans’ enthusiasm for the sport: “At the balloon field, people collect pins, badges, balloon cards, and autographs of the pilots and officials. It is always fun to start or add to your own collection.” Tips on taking better photos of balloons are included as well as information on becoming a pilot. The Pechters’ gorgeous photos of huge, brightly colored balloons, sometimes en masse like a giant party in the sky, are greatly appealing. Some balloon photography focuses almost entirely on the striking envelopes, typically a shot of a lone specimen against an empty landscape. In contrast, the Pechters’ photos tell the whole story, showing how many people are actually involved in getting balloons safely off the ground and back down, plus the subculture of fans and onlookers. Though they certainly get across the magic of hot air ballooning, the authors also provide plenty of practical tidbits (“It could cost $35,000 or more to buy your own new balloon”) and reminders about safety (“the balloon should not land on a highway, home, or in a business area”).
Packed with vibrant photos and solid information, this work delivers an enthralling introduction to ballooning for kids.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-930536-99-9
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Best Publishing Company
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay.
Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán.
When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturaswhile letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa—the mother tongue.
Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-375-80215-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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