A cute angle any way you slice it.
Why use pie charts to demonstrate basic principles of geometry when actual pies will do?
In her equally scrumptious follow-up to Geology Is a Piece of Cake (2017), Coppens once again keeps the focus on the food—linking introductions to seven fundamental concepts of geometry, including “Symmetry,” “Tessellations,” and “Angles,” by quickly turning each topic pie-ward: “How does rotational symmetry relate to pie?” “How do polygons relate to pie?” “How does Pi (π) relate to pie?” The illustrations offer a similarly enlightening (not to mention mouthwatering) mix of simple diagrams and color photos (most by the author herself) of beautifully decorated pies, sliced or whole as required for demonstrative purposes. Clear, simple line diagrams complement these photos and ably help to integrate the content. A discussion of right, complementary, acute, and obtuse angles (and more) yields explorations of both equitable slicing and relative appetite size. Recipes? Of course…eight in all, ranging from appetizer-sized samosas and a savory quiche to a butterscotch pie and a lattice-topped apple masterpiece (demonstrating parallel and perpendicular lines, natch). All come with detailed instructions, though for all but the final array of miniature berry pies, pre-made dough or crusts are recommended. The author closes with 20 challenging review questions (about geometry, but cast in pie-centric language) and a final photo gallery labeled “Just Desserts” to drool over.
A cute angle any way you slice it. (Glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-943431-52-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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
In a large, handsome format, Tarnowska offers six tales plus an abbreviated version of the frame story, retold in formal but contemporary language and sandwiched between a note on the Nights’ place in her childhood in Lebanon and a page of glossary and source notes. Rather than preserve the traditional embedded structure and cliffhanger cutoffs, she keeps each story discrete and tones down the sex and violence. This structure begs the question of why Shahriyar lets Shahrazade [sic] live if she tells each evening’s tale complete, but it serves to simplify the reading for those who want just one tale at a time. Only the opener, “Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp,” is likely to be familiar to young readers; in others a prince learns to control a flying “Ebony Horse” by “twiddling” its ears, contending djinn argue whether “Prince Kamar el Zaman [or] Princess Boudour” is the more beautiful (the prince wins) and in a Cinderella tale a “Diamond Anklet” subs for the glass slipper. Hénaff’s stylized scenes of domed cityscapes and turbaned figures add properly whimsical visual notes to this short but animated gathering. (Folktales. 10-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-84686-122-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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