Simple but effective storytelling to spark children’s curiosity and appreciation for the wider natural world.
A magic book sends a little girl and her dog adventuring into the ocean depths.
Signore’s entertaining, fact-based book for ages 6 to 9, about best friends and explorers Charlotte and her dog, Henry, launches an early reader series that details some of the Earth’s astonishing natural wonders. In this entry, thanks to a mysterious, glowing book and new friends they meet along the way, the adventurous pair visit the Mariana Trench. Written in loose verse and rhythmic prose, the book is an appealing mix of storytelling and educational content. The journey begins with Claudius Ptolemy, the 2nd-century Greco-Roman astronomer, mathematician, and geographer, who maps the way to the Mariana Trench, “the deepest, darkest place in the whole wide ocean.” Ptolemy isn’t the only real-life figure the pair encounter; on a beach, where the map’s dotted line “drifts out to sea,” they meet the late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin, who helps them with a sea turtle rescue and sees them off on a kiteboard ride across the ocean. After a surprise appearance by famed oceanographer Jacques Cousteau, they travel to his famous ship, the Calypso, on the back of a friendly whale, lulled to sleep by its song. Once aboard, renowned marine biologist Sylvia Earle takes them on a submersible trip into the Mariana Trench. The expressive narrative, conveying action and emotion with a light touch, highlights the drama of the event: Winched up from the Calypso’s deck, the submersible swings out “wide over open sea, dangling there like a yo-yo,” then sunlight fades to black as the small craft descends deeper and deeper. The author’s captivating black-and-white spot illustrations add visual appeal, and complementary elements offer additional content, such as simply worded “Ocean Facts,” a glossary that defines words and terms, and a “STEM & SEL” questionnaire that asks readers to “Think About the Ocean,” “Think Like a Scientist,” and “Think With a Brave Heart.”
Simple but effective storytelling to spark children’s curiosity and appreciation for the wider natural world.Pub Date: Feb. 24, 2026
ISBN: 9798234014016
Page Count: 87
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Multiple taps transform a giggling block of wood in Geppetto’s workshop into a skinny, loose jointed puppet that suddenly...
Unusually brisk special effects animate this relatively less satiric but equally amusing adaptation of the classic tale.
Multiple taps transform a giggling block of wood in Geppetto’s workshop into a skinny, loose jointed puppet that suddenly delivers a Bronx cheer and then whirls away on a long series of misadventures. These culminate in a final change into a flesh-and-blood boy with help from a fingertip “paintbrush.” Quick and responsive touch- or tilt-activated features range from controllable marionettes, Pinocchio’s tattletale nose and Fire-Eater’s explosive sneeze to a movable candle that illuminates both Geppetto in the fish’s dark belly and the accompanying block of text. Even the thumbnail page images of the index (which opens any time with a shake of the tablet) tumble about, somehow without falling out of order. Though transitions are almost nonexistent in the episodic plot, the text is both substantial enough to have a definite presence and artfully placed in and around Conversi’s brightly colored settings and toylike figures. Text is available in English or Italian with a clear, understated optional audio narration backed by unobtrusive music. A link on the credits page leads to downloadable coloring sheets on the producer’s website.Pub Date: March 17, 2011
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Elastico srl
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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