Both amusing and fairly edifying.
A new atlas for a new generation.
Trivia and cartography lovers should prepare for an explosion of facts and geography as they armchair-travel through 50 different countries. Sprinkled liberally across each page is a plethora of notable moments, monuments, people who lived in that region, and key facts. The opening pages remind readers that borders are intangible and can also be ephemeral—countries have expanded, disappeared, and changed throughout history—and trivia in the book is based on geography rather than country name. For example, the remains of humankind’s evolutionary ancestor “Lucy” were found in Ethiopia—but she wasn’t an Ethiopian. It’s a subtle but important point. Snippets of text printed in a small font pack in a lot of information, and a world map on each spread helps situate geographic locations. The diversity of noteworthy people overall is wonderful, but while the occasional White person appears in some African, Asian, and South American countries, the all-White cast of Europeans does not reflect that continent’s diversity. Indigenous nations in the United States and Canada are represented by Sacagawea. Those disappointments aside, the book is an engaging read for nonfiction fans. A final game challenges readers to find various symbols, inspiring a second read (and a second chance to learn a little more). (This book was reviewed digitally with 13.4-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 81.4 % of actual size.)
Both amusing and fairly edifying. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-78603-640-7
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.
In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.
The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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