An engaging, fun, and deep guide to how sea research happens.
The rarely seen giant squid is pursued by a research crew in a choose-your-own-adventure–style science book.
An ocean expedition sounds fun and exciting, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of people to pull it off. A large group of scientists and crew, all of whom appear to be people of color, sets out to learn more about giant squids. The book first introduces the array of workers on a research vessel, then later allows readers to select a pilot, a submersible, and a site to explore, among other options. Some dead ends lead back to earlier in the adventure. Those who make it to the end are rewarded by seeing the squid in its natural habitat. Along the way, the author, a Kirkus reviewer, informs readers about the largest squid ever (43 feet long) and the difference between a submarine and a human-occupied submersible; excitingly, readers are also told that “the giant squid’s natural habitat is the twilight zone. If you tried to swim there, your body would get squished by water pressure.” The friendly and fun exploration never gets too far into the science or the tools that it loses sight of the human faces driving the work with their preparation and skills.
An engaging, fun, and deep guide to how sea research happens. (note from the author and illustrator, special thanks to, animals in this book (common and scientific names), glossary, further reading and websites, bibliography, random facts) (Nonfiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-79721-393-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
A breeze through a subject often covered in the primary grades. Pair with Vicki Cobb and Julia Gorton’s I Face the Wind...
A multifaceted invitation to young readers to explore, create, and investigate the phenomenon of wind.
As part of a new series with an interdisciplinary approach to learning about our world, this combines reading with doing, offering facts and explanations, an Abenaki legend and Greek ideas about the wind, and two cheerful, original poems. Thomas explains that warm air rises, introduces the Beaufort scale, and discusses storms, wind chill, wind-dispersed seeds, and wind energy. She invites readers to investigate and create with crafty projects and poems of their own. Projects use familiar materials such as plastic bottles and straws and have clear directions. Templates are provided but some adult help is advised. The explanations are simple, sometimes too much so. Wind doesn’t really “push” sailboats, though it would push the wind-powered vehicle that is one of the projects. Many of the botanical examples will be unfamiliar to American readers. Each spread covers a single topic or project. Information and step-by-step directions are supplied in colorful text boxes, and plentiful flat graphics include children with various hair and skin colors (and almost universally red noses) as well as two world maps as background for facts about wind around the world. A companion volume, What on Earth? Water, follows a similar format.
A breeze through a subject often covered in the primary grades. Pair with Vicki Cobb and Julia Gorton’s I Face the Wind (2003). (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68297-018-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: QEB Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-meant but too often oversimplified.
A set of elephant facts designed to spark lifelong interest in protecting these curious and unique creatures.
Like its subjects, the presentation has a few wrinkles. Though otherwise rendered realistically enough to tell the different types apart, the pachyderms first visible through a shaped cutout in the front cover sport oversized googly eyes. Labels identifying some of the flora and fauna visible in Clulow’s forest and grassland scenes are usually helpful, but seeing elephants tagged “African forest elephant” and “African savanna elephants” without explanation in the wake of the author’s statement earlier that there are only two species—Asian and African—is confusing. Otherwise, along with inset suggestions for ways to find out more or to get involved in elephant conservation, Barr does offer a set of simply phrased physical and behavioral observations—the titular reasons to love an elephant—that are strong in reader appeal: “1: They have the biggest noses in the world”; “6: They cuddle and care.” The co-published 10 Reasons to Love a Turtle shares the appeal but has cracks of its own. It’s really just about the seven kinds of sea turtles (an arbitrary limitation compounded by the bizarre claim that “all turtles live in the ocean”), and it features an animal cast that is all smiles (sharks included) and odd-looking eyes.
Well-meant but too often oversimplified. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-84780-942-1
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
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