Maybe “safer” than the original but less interesting for it.
Essays on random pop-culture topics from fashions in facial hair to pet rocks, distilled from a title for adult readers based on a podcast.
Predicated on the stated notion that “there’s something interesting about everything” and the unstated contradictory one that certain topics are off limits for children, the podcasters drop about half of the chapters from Stuff You Should Know (2020)—including, for instance, those on cyanide pills, Jack Kevorkian, cargo cults, and the earliest historical records of guns—then edit most mentions of smoking, drinking, and death from the remaining 14. What’s left isn’t quite as compelling as the original but may well interest general readers (of any age) who enjoy easily digestible looks at, say, the history of demolition derbies or the origin of doughnuts, the superiority of dog senses to human ones (and why dog feet smell like Fritos), and the ever elusive Jersey Devil. Insights into how people should and actually do behave when they are lost in the wilderness or elsewhere as well as why dowsing has always been and continues to be a universal practice notwithstanding the lack of objective evidence that it works provide food for thought…as does the strong case for regarding Mr. Potato Head as “the toy of the American century.” Closing lists of sources and of relevant podcast episodes lend credibility to the enthusiastically presented facts and claims, and Monardo’s rare monochrome spot images add snarky notes plus some images of people of color in a gallery of child prodigies.
Maybe “safer” than the original but less interesting for it. (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781250622440
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Logically pointing out that the American cowboy archetype didn’t spring up from nowhere, Sandler, author of Cowboys (1994) and other volumes in the superficial, if luxuriously illustrated, “Library of Congress Book” series, looks back over 400 years of cattle tending in North America. His coverage ranges from the livestock carried on Columbus’s second voyage to today’s herding-by-helicopter operations. Here, too, the generous array of dramatic early prints, paintings, and photos are more likely to capture readers’ imaginations than the generality-ridden text. But among his vague comments about the characters, values, and culture passed by Mexican vaqueros to later arrivals from the Eastern US, Sadler intersperses nods to the gauchos, llaneros, and other South American “cowmen,” plus the paniolos of Hawaii, and the renowned African-American cowboys. He also decries the role film and popular literature have played in suppressing the vaqueros’ place in the history of the American West. He tackles an uncommon topic, and will broaden the historical perspective of many young cowboy fans, but his glance at modern vaqueros seems to stop at this country’s borders. Young readers will get a far more detailed, vivid picture of vaquero life and work from the cowboy classics in his annotated bibliography. (Notes, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6019-7
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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