by Barbara Taylor & photographed by Geoff Brightling ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 1997
Glossily photographed, highly detailed, three-dimensional models seem to leap out at readers in this entry in the Inside Guide series. The huge models capture the imagination but don't always make the technical, extremely terse text comprehensible. For example, one sequence of models and captions, explaining how plants make food, describes the structure of the chloroplast. The thylakoids, looking like several stacks of vivid green hockey pucks, are nested inside a double-walled, football-shaped membrane—the chloroplast. The food-making process remains a bit of a muddle; many of the specialized terms on that page and others don't appear in the glossary. Still, a sequence of models on the germination of a runner bean seed is of near stand-alone quality, requiring little in the way of captions, and all the models are marvels to pore over, even when they don't make plain the process under discussion. Think of the book as science for the eyes, a companion volume to more competent texts that forge links between what readers are looking at and what they should be seeing. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-13)
Pub Date: May 14, 1997
ISBN: 0-7894-1505-4
Page Count: 44
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
Share your opinion of this book
More by Barbara Taylor
BOOK REVIEW
by Barbara Taylor ; illustrated by Katrin Wiehle
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Barbara Taylor & illustrated by Richard Orr
by Mae Respicio ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love.
A 13-year-old biracial girl longs to build the house of her dreams.
For Lou Bulosan-Nelson, normal is her “gigantic extended family squished into Lola’s for every holiday imaginable.” She shares a bedroom with her Filipina mother, Minda—a former interior-design major and current nurse-to-be—in Lola Celina’s San Francisco home. From her deceased white father, Michael, Lou inherited “not-so-Filipino features,” his love for architecture, and some land. Lou’s quietude implies her keen eye for details, but her passion for creating with her hands resonates loudly. Pining for something to claim as her own, she plans to construct a house from the ground up. When her mom considers moving out of state for a potential job and Lou’s land is at risk of being auctioned off, Lou stays resilient, gathering support from both friends and family to make her dream a reality. Respicio authentically depicts the richness of Philippine culture, incorporating Filipino language, insights into Lou’s family history, and well-crafted descriptions of customs, such as the birdlike Tinikling dance and eating kamayan style (with one’s hands), throughout. Lou’s story gives voice to Filipino youth, addressing cultural differences, the importance of bayanihan (community), and the true meaning of home.
This delightful debut welcomes readers in like a house filled with love. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1794-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Mae Respicio
BOOK REVIEW
by Mae Respicio
BOOK REVIEW
by Mae Respicio
BOOK REVIEW
by Mae Respicio
by Mellody Hobson ; illustrated by Caitlin Stevens ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2024
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.
Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.
Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224719
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Trouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.