A stately recap drawing on current physics and astronomy and appropriately cognizant of their limitations.
An astrophysicist goes back to our cosmic origins: “Once upon a time, / we don’t know.”
“Maybe it was dark. / Maybe there was nothing.” Carefully distinguishing verifiable fact from informed speculation, Stahl ushers readers past the first second of the Big Bang through the transformation of plasma to matter, then the appearance of swirling galaxies and their stars and planets, and finally to a planet that’s “just right” for “you. / And everyone else.” In her suitably dramatic illustrations, Allen-Fletcher modulates from flat black pages to shimmering blasts of light and fiery stellar nurseries that give way to a misty blue Earth, with an indistinct figure in a dim bedroom scene hung with glow-in-the-dark stars—and, accompanying the author’s suggestion that there may be more than one planet that’s “just right,” a pointy eared silhouette likewise looking up into a starlit sky. Unlike James Carter’s similarly wonder-infused Once Upon a Star, illustrated by Mar Hernández (2018), the dizzying notion that the Big Bang marked the beginnings of time and space themselves as well as matter goes unremarked here…but in an expansive afterword the author urges readers to ask big questions like “What am I?” and “Where am I?” because they “cut to the heart of how much we understand about the universe.”
A stately recap drawing on current physics and astronomy and appropriately cognizant of their limitations. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-939547-64-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet as honey.
Learn about the importance of keystone species in this buzzworthy book.
Honeybees are an important species—but how many people know just how important? Readers will after reading this bee-dazzling book that explains their essential role in the food chain. Three beekeepers (a White adult and two children, one Black and one White) are inspecting their beehives and discover a potential case of colony collapse disorder, a relatively new phenomenon in which an entire colony of bees dies off quickly. The book then delves into the logical events that would follow if all honeybee colonies collapsed, showing how many species—plant and animal, including humans—would be adversely affected. Each double-page spread presents one or two small paragraphs explaining the links in the chain of consequences in moderately simple language. The text is supported by lush cartoon illustrations that will pull in readers with each new page. The book ends with a brief glossary, suggestions for starting honeybee-related conversations at home and with friends, and a full-page bibliography for readers who have been stung with curiosity. It’s a fun and engaging read for nonfiction fans and will also pull double duty during science project festivals, as the resources and information will be invaluable for projects on ecology, animal husbandry, or food webs. An added bonus for beekeepers is that all three humans are observing sensible beekeeping practices as they work. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Sweet as honey. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23245-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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