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COSMIC WONDER

Name: COSMIC WONDER
Author: Ashley Benham-Yazdani
ISBN: 9781536223231

HALLEY'S COMET AND HUMANKIND

by Ashley Benham-Yazdani ; illustrated by Ashley Benham-Yazdani ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 2023

A splendid reminder that past, present, and future are connected.

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A periodic visitor marks many years, and many changes, on a certain wondrous planet.

Halley’s Comet, depicted as an anthropomorphized shining orb with a long, flowing tail, sails across multihued skies in Benham-Yazdani’s luminescent paintings—lighting natural landscapes that, over the years, give way to a growing human presence. From two brown-skinned faces peering up from a thicket (“The first time the comet visited Earth, nobody noticed. Well, almost nobody”) to, centuries later, hands painted on a rock wall, scenes depict herders giving way to early cities, 13th-century Mongol warriors charging down a hill, and (in 1607) actors being viewed from above in an open-roofed theater. At last, in 1986, as two children (one dark-skinned, one light-skinned) watch from a beach beneath a smoky, industrial city, space probes surround the comet. They leave it to continue its long orbit, to reflect on Earth, “small and vast all at once, / holding so much life and such great promise,” and to dream of “all it might see the next time.” In closing notes the author identifies specific worldwide settings that she’s depicted, from Argentina’s Cueva de las Manos for the cave art to a traditional Hopituh Shi-nu-mu (Hopi) settlement. In addition to explaining who Edmond Halley was, she puts in a plea to leverage our works and will to “ensure that humanity’s future is bright, not brief.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A splendid reminder that past, present, and future are connected. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023

ISBN: 9781536223231

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
OF WALDEN POND
by Lesa Cline-Ransome ; illustrated by Ashley Benham-Yazdani

- BOOK REVIEW
A GREEN PLACE TO BE
by Ashley Benham-Yazdani ; illustrated by Ashley Benham-Yazdani

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I AM GRAVITY

by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2024

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
edited by Henry Herz

- BOOK REVIEW
WINK
edited by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Henry Herz

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HOW TO EXPLAIN CODING TO A GROWN-UP

From the How To Explain Science series

by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Teresa Martínez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 2023

A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.

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Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.

Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).

A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)