Like the Bernhards' Ladybug and Dragonfly, a succinct yet surprisingly comprehensive portrayal of an interesting species. Beginning with eagles in art and symbol from Greek vases and a 1000-year-old Mexican carving to the US passport, the author defines characteristics of the four groups of eagles, outlines their habits and life cycle, and concludes with their place in the environment and need for protection. Again, his wife's bold illustrations strike a remarkable balance between stylization and images so precisely observed that they can be used for identification. Her palette is softer than heretofore, and even more subtle. Words beyond the normal eight-year-old's range are well defined in context and repeated in a glossary. An excellent introduction. (Nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: March 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-8234-1105-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1994
A charming interracial group of young children set out one Saturday to climb a local mountain. When they stop to rest, some 4,000 feet above the town, they find a fossil of an animal which lived millions of years ago when the mountain was the bottom of an ancient sea. That stimulates a discussion of how mountains are formed: folded, fault-block, dome, underwater ranges, and cone- shaped. Zoehfeld (What Lives in a Shell?, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) presents plenty of good basic information in this Stage 2 Let's- Read-And-Find-Out Science title. The colorful illustrations add appeal, but the shifting perspectives may confuse literal-minded readers. In one picture, children rest on the hill; in another, they shift the eight huge plates that make up the earth as if they were puzzle pieces. A little explanation will go a long way, though, and Zoehfeld and Hale's affection for the subject comes through on every page. (Nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: May 30, 1995
ISBN: 0-06-024509-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1995
Few writers have quite the handle Markle (Pioneering Frozen Worlds, p. 138, etc.) does on how kids think about science. For those who want to know why a dead fish floats or whether a warm worm stretches farther than a cold one, she provides brief puzzles, explanations, and simple experiments using household items to help explore these questions and more than 30 other icky science topics. The ideas are more appropriate for casual experimentation than for science fair projects; the explanations are brief, and there are seldom suggested follow-up activities. There's no obvious order to the presentation, and sometimes the text is more teasing than truthful: Children stretch a warm gummy worm, not a real one; ``Blow Up a Marshmallow!'' instructs readers to put a marshmallow in the microwave for 30 seconds and watch—hardly earthshaking. Not an essential purchase, but it has definite child-appeal. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 18, 1996
ISBN: 0-7868-1087-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1996
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