Looks good but does nothing new.
A colorful, informative, and Eurocentric crash course in world architecture for young readers.
This well-illustrated work of nonfiction does a solid job of providing basic architectural knowledge for young readers, but its limited survey of examples undercuts its utility. The Egyptian pyramids, the Parthenon, Rome (“the birth of town planning”) and the Pantheon, and a single page on Byzantine architecture represent early examples. Other non-European architectural landmarks featured include the Imam Khomeini Mosque in Isfahan, Iran; a Moroccan Berber village; and Japanese architecture, represented by a typical house and the Katsura Imperial Villa. A spread on domestic architecture offers pictures of homes in Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, the U.K., the American Great Plains, Oman, China, Brazil, Malaysia, Cameroon, and more, but no context is provided. Of architects profiled, only Zaha Hadid is not a white, European man; a paragraph on female architects states that historically, “they did not receive the credit they deserved,” then goes on to prove the point by cramming 15 further names into three sentences. Latin America and Australia are almost completely ignored. It is notable that illustrated builders, architects, and engineers are largely pale-skinned, though one of book's child guides is a girl of color, and there is a woman of color in a picture of a modern architecture firm. That this nonfiction book provides more details on an imagined Martian outpost than on both sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America is downright depressing.
Looks good but does nothing new. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-7870-8029-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Button Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote...
Two republished tales by a Greco-Cherokee author feature both folkloric and modern elements as well as new illustrations.
One of the two has never been offered south of the (Canadian) border. In “Coyote Sings to the Moon,” the doo-wop hymn sung nightly by Old Woman and all the animals except tone-deaf Coyote isn’t enough to keep Moon from hiding out at the bottom of the lake—until she is finally driven forth by Coyote’s awful wailing. She has been trying to return to the lake ever since, but that piercing howl keeps her in the sky. In “Coyote’s New Suit” he is schooled in trickery by Raven, who convinces him to steal the pelts of all the other animals while they’re bathing, sends the bare animals to take clothes from the humans’ clothesline, and then sets the stage for a ruckus by suggesting that Coyote could make space in his overcrowded closet by having a yard sale. No violence ensues, but from then to now humans and animals have not spoken to one another. In Eggenschwiler’s monochrome scenes Coyote and the rest stand on hind legs and (when stripped bare) sport human limbs. Old Woman might be Native American; the only other completely human figure is a pale-skinned girl.
Though usually cast as the trickster, Coyote is more victim than victimizer, making this a nice complement to other Coyote tales. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-55498-833-4
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Starting with a lonely slice of pizza pictured on the cover and the first page, Thornhill launches into a wide-ranging study of the history and culture of food—where it comes from, how to eat it and what our food industries are doing to the planet. It’s a lot to hang on that slice of pizza, but there are plenty of interesting tidbits here, from Clarence Birdseye’s experiments with frozen food to how mad cow disease causes the brain to turn spongy to industrial food production and global warming. Unfortunately, the volume is designed like a bad high-school yearbook. Most pages are laid out in text boxes, each containing a paragraph on a discrete topic, but with little in the way of an organizing theme to tie together the content of the page or spread. Too many colors, too much jumbled-together information and total reliance on snippets of information make this a book for young readers more interested in browsing than reading. Kids at the upper edge of the book's range would be better served by Richie Chevat's adaptation of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma (2009). (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-96-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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