Quick but horizon-broadening flyovers, just the ticket for budding naturalists.
A select world tour of major mountains and mountain ranges, with stops to marvel at distinctive formations and wildlife.
Guillain begins at the top—of Mount Everest, that is—with an explanation of how mountains are formed, then moves down its slopes, pausing for closer looks at a small, high-altitude spider, the “icefall” of Khumbu, a snow leopard on the prowl, and finally four types of butterflies found in Himalayan meadows. From then it’s on, in a mix of similar slow descents and quicker whistle-stops, to volcanoes in Iceland, the Alps, Mauna Kea (which is higher than Everest, counting the part underwater), the Andes, Mount Fuji, the Rockies, and finally the dazzlingly layered Rainbow Mountains in northwestern China. Along with distant but properly majestic views of snowy, rugged peaks, Madden’s mountain scenes feature broad lakes and rivers, wide blue skies, and, in most foregrounds, precisely detailed flora and fauna. Some of the latter go unidentified, and conversely, the rare and large Titicaca water frog and some other creatures mentioned in the text are nowhere to be seen. Still, a sailboat beneath Fuji being the only sign of human occupation, readers are left to appreciate the natural wonders on display undistracted and to join the author in expressing, as she does at the close, a fervent desire to preserve them.
Quick but horizon-broadening flyovers, just the ticket for budding naturalists. (map, index, print and web resources) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-4354-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Words & Pictures
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
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
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.
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)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543181
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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