Revealing glimpses of an icy but populous natural habitat.
A survey of wildlife in, around, and dependent on tidewater glaciers.
Miller’s title may stretch the point, but her tally of glacial flora and fauna is quite full—ranging from pink algae and ice worms to brown bears and humpback whales. And, along with depicting them all with nearly photographic precision in his acrylic illustrations, Van Zyle ably captures the rugged character and monumental scale of the frozen river as it grinds through mountains and down to tower over cold-looking arctic waters. The glacier’s exact locale isn’t specified, but a reference to Prince William Sound in the dedication and the longtime collaborators’ string of Alaska-centered picture books makes it clear enough, and along with a generous helping of glacial argot (firn ice, bergy seltzer, seracs), the author adds timely warnings about the effects and hazards of climate change on glaciers worldwide. The human hikers and boaters who put in occasional appearances are too tiny to be individualized. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Revealing glimpses of an icy but populous natural habitat. (author’s note, photograph of Surprise Glacier, glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543617
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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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