Enticing and inspiring fare.
An African American boy who loved to tinker grew up to change the world of video games.
Living in 1940s Queens, New York, Jerry Lawson loved to play with simple machines. His parents encouraged his interest in science, and after his mother gave him a shortwave radio for a Christmas gift, he became an amateur operator. As he got older and more experienced, he was able to use his talents to make repairs and build gadgets for friends. Jerry attended Queens College and the City College of New York but didn’t obtain a degree; instead, he continued to learn more by tinkering on his own. In 1968 he left the New York area for Northern California, where technology was expanding. Though he often felt like an outsider, as one of the few Black engineers, he remained focused on his work. With arcade games surging in popularity, Jerry came up with a coin-operated video game called Demolition Derby. Impressed, his bosses tasked him with devising a game that could be played at home, a complicated problem to solve. Jerry ultimately came up with the concept of the removable cartridge. This lively biography of an unsung pop-culture hero shows how one person’s curiosity and drive can have a huge impact. Harris’ vivid illustrations and graphics complement Tate’s engaging text. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Enticing and inspiring fare. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, timeline, glossary, bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2023
ISBN: 9781665919081
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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