Science-y but not science.
Think like a scientist: Ask questions!
This latest title in the publisher’s How Do? series describes the scientific method, introduces some famous scientists, and encourages readers to perform scientific demonstrations. Its strength is in its clear depiction of the scientific method—laid out step by step in the text and summed up in a diagram: observe and come up with a question, research, formulate a hypothesis, experiment, analyze the results, and come to a conclusion. Lively cartoon drawings feature a diverse range of young people doing science-related things, while scientific symbols and objects fill the pages. The author uses child-friendly questions as examples during her explanation of the method and discusses the importance of sharing results. The scientists introduced are diverse in gender, race, time, and fields of interest. Hayes wraps up by presenting three “experiments” that connect to particular scientists and their discoveries: Galileo and gravity, Charles Darwin and natural selection, and Rosalind Franklin and DNA. These are activities and demonstrations, not experiments. Making fossils will not help readers understand Darwin’s theories, while creating a model of DNA out of candy will help cement the image of DNA’s structure but reveals nothing about what it does. Though the information on the scientific method is sound, the concluding activities are lacking. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Science-y but not science. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781486727742
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flowerpot Press
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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
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