In an addition to his series that repeatedly demonstrates how much we don’t know, Davis tackles the pioneer days and routes to the west. The flyleaf sets the tone by alerting readers to the “cool quotes” and “fascinating sidebars” of the volume and proclaiming, “The West doesn’t get any wilder than this.” An accessible resource for the many teachers who do units on the Oregon Trail, this offering covers such topics as Lewis and Clark, mountain men, trail dangers, the Gold Rush, cowboys, railroads, and Indian wars. The question-and-answer format invites browsing and offers a fair amount of information, but the work is condescending to young readers who don’t need silly illustrations and dumb questions to entice them. “Did the pioneers take the Yellow Brick Road to Oregon?” “Did the pioneers use their best parachutes for jumping off?” “Were there Pilgrims on the trail?” The breezy, casual style fails to provide sufficient context for the occasional serious sidebars, such as General Sherman’s statement that “the more Indians we kill this year, the less will have to be killed in the next war.” The work does succeed in one of its missions—to tell the interesting story of real pioneers “who braved harsh winters and burning summers, disease and disaster, to head west in search of a dream come true.” Though an adequate introduction, this is not for serious readers. (time line, additional resources) (Nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-06-028617-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2003
Strong rhythms and occasional full or partial rhymes give this account of P.T. Barnum’s 1884 elephant parade across the newly opened Brooklyn Bridge an incantatory tone. Catching a whiff of public concern about the new bridge’s sturdiness, Barnum seizes the moment: “’I will stage an event / that will calm every fear, erase every worry, / about that remarkable bridge. / My display will amuse, inform / and astound some. / Or else my name isn’t Barnum!’” Using a rich palette of glowing golds and browns, Roca imbues the pachyderms with a calm solidity, sending them ambling past equally solid-looking buildings and over a truly monumental bridge—which soars over a striped Big Top tent in the final scene. A stately rendition of the episode, less exuberant, but also less fictionalized, than Phil Bildner’s Twenty-One Elephants (2004), illustrated by LeUyen Pham. (author’s note, resource list) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-44887-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
Hodgkins’s entry in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series draws a visual timeline from centuries back, when humans’ dreams of flying evolved into reality. The succinct, simplified text cites human efforts to fly like birds and describes the aeronautical physics of gliding using drag force, thrust and lift. Kelley’s breezy illustrations convey a buoyant tone and keep the explanations understandable for curious young minds. Two pages of backmatter provide “Flying Facts” and instructions for making a paper airplane. Lightly touching on everything from the days of imagining the winged Icarus and dreaming of wings to today’s nonchalance about air travel, this is a welcome addition to easy science books about humans and flight. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-029558-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Collins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007
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