Readers may pick up a few “factoroids” along the way, but more systematic tours are available for the booking.
Space-suited science guide Astro Cat leads a tour of physics, from molecules to the multiverse.
The itinerary is broad but wanders all over the map. With Astro Mouse as sidekick and cameos from a supporting cast of animals and famous scientists, the fulsome feline begins with a description of how gravity works. The tour goes on with only occasional stabs at a logical order to cover the scientific method, a select few units of measurement, atomic structure, the periodic table, states of matter (the three classical ones, anyway), Newton’s laws of motion, light, electricity, quarks, dark energy, and a bagful of other topics. Similarly, the blocks of narrative and Newman’s retro-style cartoon figures are pieced together in assemblages of neatly rectilinear but hard-to-follow segments on the large, square pages. As explainers Walliman and Newman are anything but cool cats (atoms are “crazy small!”). If the language sometimes ventures into problematic territory—“Gravity is smaller on the Moon”; “The little 2 [in E=mc2] means you have to times everything by the speed of light twice”—at least their enthusiasm for exploring our “Strange Universe” comes through warmly enough to be contagious. A closing spread of miscellaneous “Factoroids” closes with an oratorical signoff: “KNOWLEDGE AWAITS!”
Readers may pick up a few “factoroids” along the way, but more systematic tours are available for the booking. (glossary/index) (Informational picture book. 9-11)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-909263-60-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This bittersweet tale takes readers into a dark, ancient woods in the American Northwest. A father and son make this forest their special place to commune with the wild, to visit with the creatures that live therein, and to revel in the mesmerizing views. One day they find spots painted on the trees, markings for loggers. The boy and his father and family ignite a small grassroots resistance to the felling of the trees. They fight for something they believe in—it is almost a sacred obligation for them—but they are unsuccessful: the laws governing private property prevail. The trees are cut and, luckily, the father and son find another stand in which to take solace. The Rands (A Home for Spooky, 1998, etc.) offer a bright fusion of the cautionary and the inspirational, and the artwork is effective in conveying the outsized majesty of the old growth. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5466-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
A picture book combines the exuberance of children and the drama found in nature for a sly lesson on power-sharing. Henderson (Newborn, 1999, etc.) lands on the wide reaches of a windy beach where young Jim expansively flings wide his arms and claims “All this is mine!” So it seems until the wind blows in a gale so violent that it smashes objects and tears “through the dreams of people sleeping.” An eerie series of black-and-white paintings shows the white-capped waves breaking ever higher and crashing inland; these are so frightening that Jim cries out to his mother, “The sea! It’s coming!” Happily enough, Jim and his mother are able to run up the hill to a grandmother’s house where they weather the storm safely. The next time Jim speaks to the wind, on a much quieter beach, he whispers, “All this is yours.” Large type, appealing pastel illustrations, and a dose of proper perspective on humankind’s power over nature make this book a fine choice for story hours as well as nature collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0904-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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