A quick once-over of this hot-button topic, though strongly argued if superficial and oddly illustrated. Pointedly dismissing Intelligent Design and not even bothering to “teach the controversy,” Loxton explains in nontechnical language the current understanding of how species evolve through Natural Selection—which he rightly defines as “survival of the adequate.” After showing how applecart-upsetting evidence of extinct animals and the geologic scale of time led to “Darwin’s Big Idea,” he describes the processes of selection in answers to a series of skeptically posed questions like, “How could evolution produce something as complicated as my eyes?” However, not only does he fail to provide any source notes or links to further resources, he leaves readers largely in the dark about evolution’s genetic mechanism. Furthermore, the illustrations are a patchwork jumble of color photos, sketchy diagrams, awkwardly drawn cartoon figures and uncommonly photorealistic portraits of prehistoric creatures. Better-founded introductions like Robert Winston’s Evolution Revolution: From Darwin to DNA (2009) or Kristan Lawson’s Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities (2003) will likely edge out this one in the struggle to survive. (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55453-430-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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