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THE EARTH

Name: THE EARTH
Author: Laura Perdew
ISBN: 978-1-61930-981-4

ONE-OF-A-KIND PLANET

by Laura Perdew ; illustrated by Shululu ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2021

With its companions, breezy flyovers with light but sound informational payloads.

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The universe brags about one of its best and favorite parts.

Depicted as human with lightly toned skin and billows of black hair a-glimmer with stars, Universe squires two wisecracking ETs past the planets (“a pretty neat system, if I do say so myself”), then recaps the history of this one from “hot, bubbly, gassy mess” through the development of life to the appearances of satellites and pizza. In simple language she explains the roles oceans, the water cycle, and our planet’s placement in the “Goldilocks” zone played in the appearance of us. If she sounds a note of warning about the need to fix pollution and other hazards to life, it only briefly dims her conviction that we will indeed step up. Heavenly bodies, microorganisms, and, on later pages, racially diverse groups of children sport bright, googly eyes and benevolent smiles in the cartoon illustrations. In co-published tours that echo the upbeat tone, Universe presents viewers with basic introductions to The Moon (our “Small-but-Mighty Neighbor”), the life cycles of a “gazillion” Stars, and our own “Shining Star,” The Sun. Each outing ends with general directions for a relevant activity (for Earth, creating a terrarium) and, injecting the Art into STEAM, opens with an earnest poem.

With its companions, breezy flyovers with light but sound informational payloads. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9.)

Pub Date: March 15, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-61930-981-4

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Nomad Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FORT
by Laura Perdew ; illustrated by Adelina Lirius

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I AM GRAVITY

by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2024

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.

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An introduction to gravity.

The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)

Pub Date: April 15, 2024

ISBN: 9781668936849

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tilbury House

Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
edited by Henry Herz

- BOOK REVIEW
WINK
edited by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Adam Gustavson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE HITHERTO SECRET EXPERIMENTS OF MARIE CURIE
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Henry Herz

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HOW TO EXPLAIN CODING TO A GROWN-UP

From the How To Explain Science series

by Ruth Spiro ; illustrated by Teresa Martínez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 10, 2023

A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.

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Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.

Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).

A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)