Mid-level readers still a bit hazy on what our planet’s poles, both geographic and magnetic, are all about will benefit from Scott’s painstaking review of their nature, origins, differences, and human discovery. Along with explanations of rotation, orbits, seasons, magnetism, auroras, continental drift, and a plethora of related topics, she contrasts the climates and wildlife of the Arctic and Antarctic, chronicles the arrival of Inuit and Norse settlers, as well as the exploits of explorers from Captain Cook to Roald Amundsen. She closes with a glimpse of modern research and a discussion of the likely effects of global warming. She does miss a few things, such as the Antarctic’s microbial community and evidence that the Earth’s magnetic poles occasionally switch places. Still, this wide-angled survey, enhanced by plenty of bright color photos and graphics, makes a sturdy overview to accompany the more narrowly focused work of Jennifer Owens Dewey’s Antarctic Journal (2001) or Carmen Bredeson’s After the Last Dog Died (2003). (index, bibliography, web sites) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-670-05925-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2004
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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