by Sigmund Brouwer & illustrated by Dave Whamond ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
While brief paperbacks for newly independent readers are too numerous to count, this one is slightly funnier and fresher...
Inventive and intrepid Justine McKeen, most likely a grade schooler, finds amusing ways to make classmates and community members more environmentally conscious.
School bully Jimmy Blatzo takes an immediate dislike to Justine after she fishes his carelessly discarded soda can out of the cafeteria trash. In retribution, he squashes her lunch flat and steals her brownies, not realizing they’re flavored with crushed crickets and intended for a science presentation. Aided off and on by her sidekicks, Safdar and Michael, she creates posters out of homemade recycled paper, constructs a greenhouse out of 1,500 soda bottles, and shames a local merchant into being more environmentally friendly. Simultaneously, she gradually defuses Blatzo’s anger and turns him into a reluctant ally. While none of the cardboard characters feature significant development, Justine is feisty enough to add some flavor to the mix. Her environmental efforts seem oversimplified and too easily accomplished, though. Brisk, very brief chapters are accompanied by lively full-page black-and-white illustrations. To complete the environmental package, the book is printed on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as being from “responsible sources.” Endnotes provide suggestions for environmental projects included in the story, but they don’t mention particular websites.
While brief paperbacks for newly independent readers are too numerous to count, this one is slightly funnier and fresher than most. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55469-927-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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by Emily Calandrelli & Tamson Weston ; illustrated by Renée Kurilla ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 29, 2017
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the...
Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.
Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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by Emily Calandrelli with Tamson Weston ; illustrated by Renée Kurilla
by Anne-Sophie Baumann ; illustrated by Olivier Latyk ; translated by Robb Booker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2016
A launch-pad fizzle.
Flaps and pull-tabs in assorted astro-scenes reveal several wonders of the universe as well as inside glimpses of observatories, rockets, a space suit, and the International Space Station.
Interactive features include a spinnable Milky Way, pop-up launches of Ariane and Soyuz rockets, a solar-system tour, visits to the surfaces of the moon and Mars, and cutaway views beneath long, thin flaps of an international array of launch vehicles. Despite these bells and whistles, this import is far from ready for liftoff. Not only has Antarctica somehow gone missing from the pop-up globe, but Baumann’s commentary (at least in Booker’s translation from the French original) shows more enthusiasm than strict attention to accuracy. Both Mercury and Venus are designated “hottest planet” (right answer: Venus); claims that there is no gravity in space and that black holes are a type of star are at best simplistic; and “we do not know what [other galaxies] actually look like” is nonsensical. Moreover, in a clumsy attempt to diversify the cast on a spread about astronaut training, Latyk gives an (evidently) Asian figure caricatured slit eyes and yellow skin.
A launch-pad fizzle. (Informational pop-up picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 979-1-02760-197-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
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by Anne-Sophie Baumann ; illustrated by Éléanore Della Malva ; translated by Wendeline A. Hardenberg
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by Anne-Sophie Baumann ; illustrated by Hélène Convert ; translated by Wendeline A. Hardenberg
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by Anne-Sophie Baumann & Pierrick Graviou ; illustrated by Didier Balicevic
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