A fine introduction, handsomely illustrated.
A portrait of the remarkable inventor as inquisitive, clever, and kindhearted.
As a boy, Nikola Tesla lavished attention on his family’s many fowl and was astonished by static electricity produced by stroking his cat’s fur. Tesla’s passion for reading and interest in electricity led to his immigration to the United States to work with Thomas Edison. The description of Tesla’s sudden insight about alternating current is nicely handled, with a patent drawing on the facing page, and the Goethe poem that helped inspire him is included in the backmatter. Westergaard briefly recounts the contentious relationship between Tesla and Edison. Sardà’s comical illustration here has each genius perched on a pedestal, arms and legs flailing as they engage in furious argument. Sardà’s marvelous artwork includes borders and motifs suggesting art from what is now Croatia, Tesla’s homeland, while depictions of the Chicago exposition and the New York skyline employ the decorative art style of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. All the people in them are White. The financial arrangement with George Westinghouse that aided Tesla’s success at the Chicago world’s fair of 1893 later left him penniless. The loneliness and indignity of Tesla’s poverty in old age here is portrayed not so much as eccentricity but as the kindness of an elderly man toward city birds, a return to the simplicity of childhood. An extensive author’s note fills in the complex picture of Tesla’s life.
A fine introduction, handsomely illustrated. (sources) (Picture book/biography. 7-11)Pub Date: July 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11460-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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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