Strong appeals to the sense of adventure as well as the typical other five.
Visits to 11 of the most extreme places on Earth—and beyond.
Inviting intrepid young explorers to pack up survival gear and follow along, Stewart-Sharpe leads a zigzag tour that begins in the heat-blasted Danakil Depression of Ethiopia, ends on Mars, and in between roves from the subterranean Krubera Cave in (the country of) Georgia and the benthic Challenger Deep to volcanic Zavodovski Island (“The world’s stinkiest place”). Along with proposing such feats as sky-diving to the top of Mount Everest and hauling a pulk (sled) across Antarctica, the author name-drops dozens of actual people, including many with disabilities, who have done the same and also calls attention to each locale’s distinctive sights, sounds, scents, sensations, and tastes. Cushley provides such helpful images as a tally of useful supplies but goes mostly for montage-style outdoor scenes populated by local wildlife and small, racially diverse visitors. Even seasoned armchair travelers will not only encounter some unfamiliar places, but are likely to find all of them more memorable for the sensory notes about, for instance, the taste of piranha (“weirdly ‘muddy’ ”), the smell of a lightning storm over Lake Maracaibo, or the feeling of a venomous mulga snake gliding over a boot in the Australian Outback. A reminder to take care of our planet plus the leading question “But where to next?” add suitable closing notes.
Strong appeals to the sense of adventure as well as the typical other five. (glossary) (Nonfiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781623544195
Page Count: 68
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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