Nicolson gathers and answers two-dozen fundamental curiosities of the human condition. Why do we laugh, why do we cry? Why sleep, why play? What role do hiccups serve, and, really, what is it about passing gas, in either direction? The author melds the playful with the insightful as she explains the mechanisms behind such elemental human acts as yawning and vomiting, with evolutionary and biological factors sharing the page with some good—and mildly disgusting—color commentary: “Ever wonder why your vomit sometimes contains little chunks of orange stuff…? These are bits of your stomach lining, torn off by the squeezing action.” Yes, well, at least that is less unnerving than the sea cucumber—Nicolson wisely introduces other species into the picture for context and variety—which vomits up its entire stomach and other internal organs. The text is good natured and light on its feet, whether it is laying out the theoretical underpinnings of why we see in color, drumming with urgency in describing the fight-or-flight response or probing the mists of time to gain insight into memory, the pleasure of pets or our response to music. Eastman’s digital photo-collages are nicely attuned to the text, with enough wackiness to bring out the humor yet also built up of parts that call attention to the expository material. (Nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55453-569-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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
A quick flight but a blast from first to last.
A charged-up roundup of astro-facts.
Having previously explored everything awesome about both dinosaurs (2019) and sharks (2020), Lowery now heads out along a well-traveled route, taking readers from the Big Bang through a planet-by-planet tour of the solar system and then through a selection of space-exploration highlights. The survey isn’t unique, but Lowery does pour on the gosh-wow by filling each hand-lettered, poster-style spread with emphatic colors and graphics. He also goes for the awesome in his selection of facts—so that readers get nothing about Newton’s laws of motion, for instance, but will come away knowing that just 65 years separate the Wright brothers’ flight and the first moon landing. They’ll also learn that space is silent but smells like burned steak (according to astronaut Chris Hadfield), that thanks to microgravity no one snores on the International Space Station, and that Buzz Aldrin was the first man on the moon…to use the bathroom. And, along with a set of forgettable space jokes (OK, one: “Why did the carnivore eat the shooting star?” “Because it was meteor”), the backmatter features drawing instructions for budding space artists and a short but choice reading list. Nods to Katherine Johnson and NASA’s other African American “computers” as well as astronomer Vera Rubin give women a solid presence in the otherwise male and largely White cast of humans. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A quick flight but a blast from first to last. (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-35974-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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