An effective teaching tool used to explain a complex and critical issue.
Mind mapping offers a new way to learn about climate change.
Radial diagrams break down big subjects, simplifying and organizing them into manageable chunks that use both words and images. Here, this strategy is effectively used by science writer Jackson and illustrator Kordić to explain first causes and effects of climate change, then what might be done. The opening table of contents shows that chapter by chapter, they deal with big questions: “Is climate the same as weather?” “What is the greenhouse effect?” “What causes climate change?” “What will happen to Earth? “What will happen to life on Earth?” “Can we stop climate change?” “Can technology solve it?” and “What do we do next?” A page turn reveals the map expressing these questions more succinctly and breaking them up into topics, each with a thumbnail illustration. Throughout the book this pattern continues. This has the effect of making the exposition, conveyed in short paragraphs with headings, feel accessible and understandable because it always appears with an image. Text and graphical boxes are set directly on spreads with relevant background images. Page numbers and subject headings appear throughout. Smaller page numbers guide readers to specific subtopics (usually, but not always, subsequent pages). The information in this title isn’t new, but it’s comprehensive and broken down in ways that will encourage understanding and retention.
An effective teaching tool used to explain a complex and critical issue. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68188-559-9
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Insight Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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