An upbeat, necessary history.
A celebration of three of the female programmers of the World War II–era computer, ENIAC.
Present-tense text describes how Betty Snyder, Jean Jennings, and Kay McNulty have always been standouts: Betty inventively individualistic, Jean tenacious, and Kay perfectionistic. The highly intelligent women especially love math. During WWII, the call goes out for female mathematicians to join the war effort, computing the math problems that determine angles and timing of weapons. But there’s also a top-secret project, the ENIAC. The three heroines are among the mathematicians tapped to figure out how to program the machine and ensure its fast calculations are accurate. The machine’s a costly investment, and it’s up to the programmers to get it working in time for a demonstration for an audience of important men. With each wrong answer ENIAC generates, the pressure on the programmers grows. When they succeed—just in time—the men celebrate by congratulating themselves while the women get back to work coming up with important innovations in programming (Betty’s sort-merge datastream, Jean’s scheme to store programs, and Kay’s thrifty use of memory). The crisp, clear illustrations color-code the women yellow, red, and green for ease in keeping them straight and for showing montages. While the three are white, the forward-looking final page turn embraces the computer age with an illustration of three girls—Asian, white and chubby, and black—sharing the color-coded motif and other visual ties to the heroines’ stories.
An upbeat, necessary history. (authors’ note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-01105-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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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