Cogent and well argued; may well spur youngsters to put down their tablets—at least for now.
What is dopamine, and why do brains like it?
Barton opens by celebrating the brain, noting that it’s responsible for temperature regulation, memory, and breathing. Above all, it keeps us alive, thanks to a “special brain chemical” known as dopamine that produces positive feelings; we pursue activities—eating, drinking, socializing, learning—that provide more dopamine. So why don’t we simply maximize dopamine production? “Well, brains don’t work that way.” Just as too much water can harm a plant (or too much junk food can impact our health), too much dopamine can hurt our brains. Lots of screen time can result in “dopamine overload,” Barton asserts; it can also desensitize us to “the good feelings we get from real-life activities,” like reading or playing with friends. She explains how to recognize “junk tech” and makes some sound suggestions, such as limiting screen time and waiting a few years to start using phones and tablets. Barton’s clear, sensible, moderate approach will widen her audience: The cute vignettes will appeal to younger readers, while the lucid, accessible observations about science will reach older ones. Her whimsical art and narration (rife with personal asides and inspired metaphors) keep the book from verging on preachy; Barton appears on the page (a photo of her face perched atop a stick figure–like body), alongside a smiling, bespectacled brain.
Cogent and well argued; may well spur youngsters to put down their tablets—at least for now. (author’s note, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9780593693803
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
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