While the illustrations are often flawed and feel outdated, their overall boldness and simplicity make for a nice book of...
French illustrator Grée’s colorful and iconic images are put front and center alongside facts on nature, animals, transportation, and space in this encyclopedia for young readers.
This book walks through a young child’s world from the basics of plants, foods, and animals to human-made homes and modes of transportation. The illustrations are the focus, with bold, themed double-page spreads and colorful, lifelike images. Some pages are so picture-focused that they include next to no text, while others—such as the two pages on animal skills and survival—strike a nice balance of image and description. There are some useful diagrams, e.g., those that outline the life cycle of a butterfly and where gasoline comes from. By contrast, there are some that confuse, such as a cross section of a house that has a detailed bathroom with no toilet and is missing the accouterments of a 21st-century home (it’s got a TV antenna!). While for the most part people are inclusively illustrated, one spread of watercraft draws heavily and cringeworthily on stereotype in its depictions of Indigenous people paddling, respectively, a canoe, a kayak, and a raft. While this is a nice book of labeled pictures, an “encyclopedia” it is not, often raising more questions than it answers: What’s a queen ant or a hydroelectric power station? The index cross-references some items but not all.
While the illustrations are often flawed and feel outdated, their overall boldness and simplicity make for a nice book of pictures—but not a meaningful or useful encyclopedia. (Nonfiction. 6-8)Pub Date: April 3, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-908985-97-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Button Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
A rendition more poignant than patriotic with, at least in the rhymed portions, the cadence of a lullaby.
An illustrated version of the ever popular Scottish “Skye Boat Song,” with added lyrics and historical background.
Written in the 19th century (and set to a folk melody), the verses commemorate the flight of Bonnie Prince Charlie, then in his mid-20s, from the 1746 battle of Culloden. They begin after a prose introduction that sets the scene and follows the fugitive until—disguised (according to legend) as resourceful cottager Flora MacDonald’s maidservant—he escapes in a boat to the Isle of Skye. Along with a closing note, the anonymous modern co-author also adds a near ambush by British troops to the storyline in the lyrics and tones down the martial closing lines to a milder “Rightfully king! True hearts will stay / Faithful for evermore!” There is no visible blood or explicit violence in Belli’s depictions of the battle and its aftermath, but in the clean-lined watercolor scenes he fashions evocatively rough seas and stormy skies until landfall brings a final calm. The British soldiers’ red coats and the bright tartans in which the handsome, downcast prince and other male Scots in the all-white cast are outfitted shine against the muted backgrounds.
A rendition more poignant than patriotic with, at least in the rhymed portions, the cadence of a lullaby. (map) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78250-367-5
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Floris
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
A serviceable picture of life in orbit, equally suitable for reading together or, despite the textual tweaking, solo.
How astronauts eat, sleep, and work in space.
Like other entries in the We Both Read series, this elementary overview is designed for shared reading, offering short passages of information alternating with, on opposite pages, even shorter segments written in simpler language and printed in a larger typeface. Despite the visual separation and (minor) differences in reading level, the narrative moves in a single unified flow rather than following independent tracks—covering, here, typical daily routines aboard the ISS with looks at the history of space stations, at astronaut training and duties, and ahead to potential future settlements on Mars. Aside from several uncredited cutaway views and digital paintings, the illustrations are NASA photos of the station and some of the men and women (unidentified and mostly but not all white) who have lived and worked there. The book lacks such standard features as glossary and index, but it does offer a few websites for readers to explore for further information.
A serviceable picture of life in orbit, equally suitable for reading together or, despite the textual tweaking, solo. (Informational early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-60115-302-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Treasure Bay
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
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