File this one under “Books we find useful.”
Discover how human intervention changed the histories of 18 species.
Broken up into the three loose categories—“Creatures we find cute,” “Creatures we find useful,” and “Creatures that find us useful”—this graphic nonfiction title traces the domestication of common pets and farm animals as well as our relationships with less-popular creatures, such as mice, raccoons, and cockroaches. Each creature is given its own chapter, which introduces general information, such as weight, size, and diet, before delving into its intersection with humankind. The chapters are informative and include enough jokes, quips, and groaners to keep most readers engaged. A few chapters cross over broad categories, intimating at the complexities of humankind’s dietary incentives. Rabbits, for instance, have been farmed for their meat for centuries as well as more recently raised as pets, but their introduction into the wild in Australia has been calamitous. The artwork features an international cast of humans representing multiple cultures. The world map that introduces every chapter identifies each species’ “(Likely) Wild Origin” and uses star points instead of ranges, which may confuse literal-minded readers. That, and a lack of bibliography, may annoy those seeking to learn more. These quibbles aside, the book is an entertaining, sometimes-sobering look at the effects we’ve had on the planet. It’s a useful title for any nonfiction shelf, but it may need a little support now and then.
File this one under “Books we find useful.” (timeline, map) (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-49823-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will regard their refrigerators and freezers in a whole new, respectful light.
A coolly fascinating, nostalgic glimpse into life as it was over a century ago.
Long before the invention of the refrigerator, various methods were used to chill food and drink and to keep perishables from spoiling. Along came forward-thinking individuals who thought to make ice available on a year-round basis—even, remarkably, in locales where it didn’t occur naturally. Eventually, the ice industry was born, leading to ever-better technological innovations for cutting, harvesting, transporting and storing it in enormous ice houses along the banks of lakes and rivers. Selling eager customers ice from fresh, unpolluted sources became a thriving consumer and commercial enterprise. Pringle’s writing is as clear and sharp as well-hewn blocks of ice, and the book is a visually refreshing treat: Modern readers are brought directly into a past they may hardly have imagined by marvelous contemporary advertisements; black-and-white and color photos and engravings featuring tools, customers and workers in action; colorful, entertaining, informative sidebars and more. Youngsters may not believe that a commodity they take so for granted in their drinking glasses is the stuff of such fast-paced, absorbing historical reading. Very well-documented, even including links to some short Edison films.
Readers will regard their refrigerators and freezers in a whole new, respectful light. (websites, list of films, source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-59078-801-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Aug. 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers who took these plants for granted before may well not do so anymore.
A collection of stories that will enlighten readers on the fascinating and often tragic history behind the blue jeans they wear, the French fries and chocolate they consume, and the pepper and sugar they use for flavor.
Richardson presents brief but informative overviews of the impact 10 plants had upon history and civilization. The only plant readers may be completely unfamiliar with is cinchona, the bark of which is used to produce quinine for malaria. How cotton affected the slave trade, how papyrus enabled the wide dissemination of knowledge, how rubber revolutionized transportation, and how pepper—or the control of its trade—provoked wars are among the stories told. A superfluous fiction scenario begins each chapter and is followed by informational text about the plant, its historical background and now-familiar applications. The tea chapter is representative, leading off with “Edward” at the Boston Tea Party and then tracing tea’s spread from China and Japan to Europe, exploring its role in the opium economy, describing its processing and explaining its social significance. Color illustrations serve more of a decorative than explanatory purpose.
Readers who took these plants for granted before may well not do so anymore. (maps, bibliography, suggestions for further reading) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55451-445-8
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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