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THE STORY OF LIFE

Name: THE STORY OF LIFE
Author: Catherine Barr
ISBN: 978-1-84780-485-3

A FIRST BOOK ABOUT EVOLUTION

by Catherine Barr ; Steve Williams ; illustrated by Amy Husband ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2015

A high-spirited lead-in to discussions of evolution’s proofs and mechanisms, despite the anthropocentric view of Earth’s...

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Using colorful language and depicting crayon and collage creatures with wide eyes, even at the single-cell stage, this simple account retraces the history of life on Earth from “tiny floating bits” to humans.

From blasting volcanoes and belching gasses to a closing panorama of buildings, factories and busy highways, Husband’s naïve-style cartoon pictures populate the planet with cells, multicelled creatures, plants and animals on land and in the sea, dinosaurs, mammals and then humans in succession. Two major extinction events also get mentions, though they are not specifically named. A linking narrative incorporates the ideas that living things “fought for food and space” and also “evolved” to fill distinct environmental niches. Various terms and phrases from the text are repeated in labels that point to the appropriate spots on the page—for instance those aforementioned “tiny bits.” The authors display a rather parochial point of view in claims that life only “really began to get going” when animals appeared and that following the age of dinosaurs, mammals “took over the world.” However, after noting that we really should be taking better care of our home, they do close with the broader and more accurate observation that “with or without us, our planet will spin through space for billions of years to come.”

A high-spirited lead-in to discussions of evolution’s proofs and mechanisms, despite the anthropocentric view of Earth’s biosphere. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: March 15, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-84780-485-3

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Frances Lincoln

Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
WILDLIFE CROSSINGS
by Catherine Barr ; illustrated by Christiane Engel

- BOOK REVIEW
WATER
by Catherine Barr ; illustrated by Christiane Engel

- BOOK REVIEW
50 REASONS TO LOVE ANIMALS
by Catherine Barr ; illustrated by Hanako Clulow

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ADA LACE, ON THE CASE

From the Ada Lace series , Vol. 1

by Emily Calandrelli & Tamson Weston ; illustrated by Renée Kurilla ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 29, 2017

The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the...

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Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.

Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.

The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)

Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9

Page Count: 128

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ADA LACE SEES RED
by Emily Calandrelli with Tamson Weston ; illustrated by Renée Kurilla

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THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF SPACE

by Anne-Sophie Baumann ; illustrated by Olivier Latyk ; translated by Robb Booker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2016

A launch-pad fizzle.

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Flaps and pull-tabs in assorted astro-scenes reveal several wonders of the universe as well as inside glimpses of observatories, rockets, a space suit, and the International Space Station.

Interactive features include a spinnable Milky Way, pop-up launches of Ariane and Soyuz rockets, a solar-system tour, visits to the surfaces of the moon and Mars, and cutaway views beneath long, thin flaps of an international array of launch vehicles. Despite these bells and whistles, this import is far from ready for liftoff. Not only has Antarctica somehow gone missing from the pop-up globe, but Baumann’s commentary (at least in Booker’s translation from the French original) shows more enthusiasm than strict attention to accuracy. Both Mercury and Venus are designated “hottest planet” (right answer: Venus); claims that there is no gravity in space and that black holes are a type of star are at best simplistic; and “we do not know what [other galaxies] actually look like” is nonsensical. Moreover, in a clumsy attempt to diversify the cast on a spread about astronaut training, Latyk gives an (evidently) Asian figure caricatured slit eyes and yellow skin.

A launch-pad fizzle. (Informational pop-up picture book. 7-9)