A splendid addition to the ``Eyewitness Visual Dictionary'' series, with hundreds of outstanding color photos and drawings, all extensively labeled. Beginning with a discussion of characteristics of the plant kingdom, this logically organized volume presents plantlike nonplants (fungi, lichens, algae) and then proceeds up the phyla: liverworts and mosses; horsetails, club mosses and ferns; gymnosperms and angiosperms. Plant parts and processes (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, pollination, photosynthesis) are then discussed in greater detail; information on classification concludes the book. Though the text is technical, almost every aspect is illustrated, and each term and topic is detailed in the index. Visually beautiful and unusually complete: an excellent choice for reference and circulation, made especially accessible by index's more than 3,000 entries. (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: June 1, 1992
ISBN: 1-56458-016-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
From its enticing, dramatic cover to its brown endpapers to a comical Grant Wood–esque final image, this is a worthy...
A graphic-novel account of the science and history that first created and then, theoretically, destroyed the terrifying Dust Bowl storms that raged in the United States during the “dirty thirties.”
“A speck of dust is a tiny thing. Five of them could fit on the period at the end of this sentence.” This white-lettered opening is set against a roiling mass of dark clouds that spills from verso to recto as a cartoon farmer and scores of wildlife flee for their lives. The dialogue balloon for the farmer—“Oh my God! Here it comes!”—is the first of many quotations (most of them more informative) from transcripts of eyewitnesses. These factual accounts are interspersed with eloquently simple explanations of the geology of the Great Plains, the mistake of replacing bison with cattle and other lead-ups to the devastations of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The comic-book–style characters create relief from the relentlessly grim stories of hardship and loss, set in frames appropriately backgrounded in grays and browns. Although readers learn of how the U.S. government finally intervened to help out, the text does not spare them from accounts of crippling droughts even in the current decade.
From its enticing, dramatic cover to its brown endpapers to a comical Grant Wood–esque final image, this is a worthy contribution to the nonfiction shelves. (bibliography, source notes, photographs) (Graphic nonfiction. 10 & up)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-81550-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Randy Newman famously sang, “short people got no reason to live,” but Schwartz presents himself as living proof that being short is no obstacle to happiness or success. Functioning as both a memoir and an advice book, the narrative shares the author’s experiences of growing up short in a culture that favors the tall and explores scientific facts about height. Using examples from marketing, mythology and psychology, it shows that the cultural obsession with height can be unhealthy and even dangerous and that prejudice against the short persists. The author offers readers sound advice on both how to avoid falling into the trap of believing shortness is synonymous with inferior and the healthy lifestyle everyone should pursue to realize his or her full potential growth. There are extensive recommendations for further reading and study. The narrative’s conversational style is appealing and engaging, and its personal and objective insights are thoughtful and helpful. The author quotes Newman then successfully proves him wrong. (Nonfiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-323-6
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Flash Point/Roaring Brook
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
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