Notes on our planet’s history and current state, with pop-up highlights.
The exploration begins with a layered 3-D globe that splits open to reveal a brilliant, foil-lined interior. It goes on to present a lush tableau of pond flora and fauna, a schematic of an erupting volcano with a saw-toothed sound effect, an explosion of playing cards (reflecting one of the narrative’s more fanciful images), and an Edenic tropical waterfall scene. Alas, Charbonnel’s five intricate pop-ups are the stars of a show that doesn’t have much else to recommend it. Buxton fills the pages with arbitrary-feeling arrays of creatures and things that are sometimes labeled and sometimes not, sometimes to scale and sometimes not, and sometimes only marginally relevant to the topic. This is most notable on a spread on climate peril that’s dominated by an oil tanker on fire surrounded by icebergs, fish skeletons, and fire boats. Jankeliowitch does no better, comparing the biosphere to a house of cards (see above) right after noting that it actually has a long history of recovering from extinction events and misinforming readers that the modern Earth is 6,000 years old, that volcanoes help to control our planet’s internal heat, and that in 5 or so billion years the Sun will “go out.” A group scene intended to depict human diversity includes only four that are not clad in casual Western attire; of those four, two are significantly exoticized.
Magnificent paper engineering, but the text and pictures don’t measure up. (Informational pop-up picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65257-2
Page Count: 20
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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An invitation to share some of the world’s speleological wonders.
Lit by the flashlights of small visitors, huge, rugged, shadowy spaces beckon in Chock’s powerfully atmospheric illustrations as Beckerman’s accompanying mix of free-verse commentary and blocks of explanations in smaller type turn general impressions into specific sites and sights. Among the latter are the dazzling tangle of giant selenite crystals in Mexico’s Cueva de los Cristales, ancient cave paintings at Lascaux in France, an immense underwater cave system in Florida, and (for truly courageous adventurers) the “silently squirming ceiling” of glowworms in New Zealand’s Waitomo Caves. The author also pays particular tribute to the group of women who ventured into the constricted reaches (judged too narrow for men) of South Africa’s Rising Star cave system to uncover fossils of a new prehistoric cousin, Homo naledi. All around the world caves are waiting “for / wondering, / wandering / explorers / like you,” she concludes. “Do you dare?” For those who might, the book closes with lists of safety rules and recommended caving gear. Tiny spelunkers in the art are nearly all bundled up and facing away from viewers, but some at least are plainly children, and an observation that the floors of some lava tubes in Australia are flat enough for wheelchairs makes Beckerman’s invitation even more inclusive. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Tantalizing glimpses of hidden natural treasures, with breathtaking art. (cave facts, author’s and illustrator’s notes, photos) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-72662-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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A highlights reel of the great scientist’s life and achievements, from clandestine early schooling to the founding of Warsaw’s Radium Institute.
In big sequential panels Bayarri dashes through Curie’s career, barely pausing at significant moments (“Mother! A letter just arrived. It’s from Sweden,” announces young Irène. “Oh, really?…They’re awarding me another Nobel!”) in a seeming rush to cover her youth, family life, discoveries, World War I work, and later achievements (with only a closing timeline noting her death, of “aplastic anemia”). Button-eyed but recognizable figures in the panels pour out lecture-ish dialogue. This is well stocked with names and scientific terms but offered with little or no context—characteristics shared by co-published profiles on Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity (“You and your thought experiments, Albert!” “We love it! The other day, Schrödinger thought up one about a cat”), Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution, and Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion. Dark-skinned Tierra del Fuegans make appearances in Darwin, prompting the young naturalist to express his strong anti-slavery views; otherwise the cast is white throughout the series. Engagingly informal as the art and general tone of the narratives are, the books will likely find younger readers struggling to keep up, but kids already exposed to the names and at least some of the concepts will find these imports, translated from the Basque, helpful if, at times, dry overviews.
Together with its companions, too rushed to be first introductions but suitable as second ones. (glossary, index, resource list) (Graphic biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-7821-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
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