Despite flaws, if this book gets some kids even a bit excited about art and museums, all may be well.
A child experiences art personally.
This Spanish import combines a whimsical fantasy about a father and child visiting a modern-art museum with information about modern-art movements and artists. Dad heads toward his favorite painting, unaware he and his child have split up. Meanwhile, the wide-eyed child is dazzled by everything. A ballerina emerges from a Degas painting, inviting the child on a tour. The child winds up cavorting around and inside some paintings. Double-page spreads include cartoonish replicas of paintings by, for instance, Piet Mondrian, Paul Gaugin, and Andy Warhol and briefly define modern-art movements (e.g., expressionism, surrealism) and present cursory information about artists. A page defining museums and modern art is included, though it should have preceded the others. Occasionally, figures in artworks speak to the child or readers. By adventure’s end, the child can’t wait to return to the museum, and Dad’s taken a deep dive into art in more ways than one. This well-meaning but not wholly successful introduction clearly requires an adult to share and explain the information; most young readers are unlikely to fully absorb and appreciate the technicalities, let alone complain about omitted artists (for instance, Salvador Dalí, M.C. Escher). Still, the lively, colorful, lampooning illustrations are humorous, with numerous nods to renowned artworks. The cartoonishly portrayed protagonists are light-skinned; most of the represented artists are White men, though some women are included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Despite flaws, if this book gets some kids even a bit excited about art and museums, all may be well. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: June 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-7643-6574-4
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Schiffer
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Engaging, well-chosen images and a clear, coherent text illuminate the importance of empathy for the world’s inhabitants.
Large color photographs (occasionally composed of montages) and accessible, simple text highlight global similarities and differences, always focusing on our universal connections.
While child readers may not recognize Manzano, the Puerto Rican actress who played Maria on Sesame Street, adults will recognize her as a trusted diverse voice. In her endnote, she explains her desire to “encourage lively conversations about shared experiences.” Starting out with the familiar, home and community, the text begins with “How many WONDERFUL PEOPLE do you know?” Then it moves out to the world: “Did you know there are about 8 BILLION PEOPLE on the planet?” The photo essay features the usual concrete similarities and differences found in many books of this type, such as housing (a Mongolian yurt opposite a Hong Kong apartment building overlooking a basketball court), food (dumplings, pizza, cotton candy, a churro, etc.), and school. Manzano also makes sure to point out likenesses in emotions, as shown in a montage of photos from countries including China, Spain, Kashmir (Pakistan/India), and the United States. At the end, a world map and thumbnail images show the locations of all photos, revealing a preponderance of examples from the U.S. and a slight underrepresentation for Africa and South America.
Engaging, well-chosen images and a clear, coherent text illuminate the importance of empathy for the world’s inhabitants. (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4263-3738-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: May 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2020
Science at its best: informative and gross.
Why not? Because “IT’S FULL OF GERMS.”
Of course, Ben-Barak rightly notes, so is everything else—from your socks to the top of Mount Everest. Just to demonstrate, he invites readers to undertake an exploratory adventure (only partly imaginary): First touch a certain seemingly blank spot on the page to pick up a microbe named Min, then in turn touch teeth, shirt, and navel to pick up Rae, Dennis, and Jake. In the process, readers watch crews of other microbes digging cavities (“Hey kid, brush your teeth less”), spreading “lovely filth,” and chowing down on huge rafts of dead skin. For the illustrations, Frost places dialogue balloons and small googly-eyed cartoon blobs of diverse shape and color onto Rundgren’s photographs, taken using a scanning electron microscope, of the fantastically rugged surfaces of seemingly smooth paper, a tooth, textile fibers, and the jumbled crevasses in a belly button. The tour concludes with more formal introductions and profiles for Min and the others: E. coli, Streptococcus, Aspergillus niger, and Corynebacteria. “Where will you take Min tomorrow?” the author asks teasingly. Maybe the nearest bar of soap.
Science at its best: informative and gross. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: June 5, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-17536-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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