A valuable resource that deserves more careful editing.
This handbook spotlights wildlife in our world, people who study and protect it, and ways to safeguard habitats and the creatures who live there.
Debbink—who featured habitats around the world in the previous series entry, 2021's Habitats—explores the creatures who share our world. The book’s scope is wide-ranging: Chapters are devoted to insects, birds, reptiles and amphibians, land animals, ocean creatures, freshwater life, and city wildlife. Within each chapter there’s an introduction; a page of facts; biographical information for people who have observed and described those creatures; a profile of an animal; a “natural wonder” (such as the remarkable marine journeys of ocean creatures); an example of people helping animals; two do-it-yourself activities; and stewardship suggestions on individual, local, and global levels. From Maria Merian observing insects in the 1600s to modern-day Tomas Diagne protecting turtles in Africa to filmmaker Dora Nightingale filming foxes in the U.K., the biographies are widely diverse. Hands-on activities are similarly varied. Reliable web references for further information are included, though some recommended apps aren’t available in the U.S. The author writes in a clear and engaging style, often addressing the reader directly, though there are some inaccuracies in the text. With such a broad scope, it is not surprising that some of the exposition seems oversimplified. Pleasing illustrations depict children of varying racial representations exploring outdoors.
A valuable resource that deserves more careful editing. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68369-268-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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