Video clips and computer-graphic animations give this companion to an exhibit at New York’s American Museum of Natural History plenty of lift.
Along with a short video in which the co-curators and another expert highlight the exhibition’s subject and themes, the app offers broad looks at pterosaurs’ physical characteristics—from unique skeletal features to the wide range of variations in various species’ teeth, heads and tails. The illustrators start with the fossil record, but in a mix of still and animated images they also flesh out the prehistoric fliers with fuzz or feathers, plus flamboyantly colored heads and crests. Viewers can compare computer-generated reconstructions of pterosaurs in flight with live action clips of modern birds and insects, see pterosaurs walk and feed, tap locations on a map to visit the sites of major discoveries and use sliders to “assemble” scattered fossil fragments or create a chart of body sizes. The presentation is largely visual, but captions and easily digestible explanatory passages fill in details. Furthermore, mini-essays offer glances at renowned fossil hunters Mary Anning and O.C. Marsh. Though more a patchwork of discrete sections than a cohesive whole, this up-to-the-moment survey still flies on its own. (Requires iOS 6 and above.) (timeline) (iPad informational app. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: American Museum of Natural History
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2014
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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