A convincing invitation to the wide world of working with animals.
A pair of enthusiastic animal lovers provide a comprehensive introduction to zoology, a description of potential careers and suggestions for hands-on activities for learning or practicing.
This useful title begins with an in-depth look at the basics of the study of animal life: animal forms and functions, animal behavior, and the relation of animals to their environments. The second section describes the many different roles animal lovers can play: as workers (and even volunteers) in zoos and aquariums, veterinarians, wildlife researchers and “conservation warriors.” The accompanying activities are appropriate for middle school students alone or in groups. They include baking an edible “animal cell” and making a salad from fruits commonly pollinated by bats, molding tiger teeth, making a stethoscope and taking vital signs, and playing various games. The extensive text, though a bit daunting at first, reads smoothly and often directly addresses the audience. It’s broken up and made to look more accessible with plentiful pictures (a wide range of animals and animal workers) and text boxes. Some of these breakout sections discuss zoological concepts such as metamorphosis and animal classification, while others introduce figures in the history of animal study, from Aristotle to the chief scientist at Polar Bears International, and still others describe particular animal encounters.
A convincing invitation to the wide world of working with animals. (glossary, resources, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: March 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-61374-961-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Wordplay and wry wit put extra fun into a trove of fundamental knowledge.
With an amped-up sense of wonder, the Science Guy surveys the natural universe.
Starting from first principles like the scientific method, Nye and his co-author marvel at the “Amazing Machine” that is the human body then go on to talk up animals, plants, evolution, physics and chemistry, the quantum realm, geophysics, and climate change. They next venture out into the solar system and beyond. Along with tallying select aspects and discoveries in each chapter, the authors gather up “Massively Important” central concepts, send shoutouts to underrecognized women scientists like oceanographer Marie Tharp, and slip in directions for homespun experiments and demonstrations. They also challenge readers to ponder still-unsolved scientific posers and intersperse rousing quotes from working scientists about how exciting and wide open their respective fields are. If a few of those fields, like the fungal kingdom, get short shrift (one spare paragraph notwithstanding), readers are urged often enough to go look things up for themselves to kindle a compensatory habit. Aside from posed photos of Nye and a few more of children (mostly presenting as White) doing science-y things, the full-color graphic and photographic images not only reflect the overall “get this!” tone but consistently enrich the flow of facts and reflections. “Our universe is a strange and surprising place,” Nye writes. “Stay curious.” Words to live by.
Wordplay and wry wit put extra fun into a trove of fundamental knowledge. (contributors, art credits, selected bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4676-5
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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