A salutary gallery of monarchs—or at least monarchial types.
A wide-angled survey of men who ruled—and not just empires or countries.
Crowning a series that began with Drimmer’s The Book of Heroines (2016) and Crispin Boyer’s The Book of Heroes (2016) and publishes simultaneously with Drimmer’s The Book of Queens, this gathering of glitterati covers not just historical heads of state from Akbar to Shaka Zulu, but also fictional ones such as T’Challa of Wakanda. Readers will also meet Martin Luther King Jr. and other “Kings of Change,” “Aristocrats of Action” (Babe Ruth, Dwayne Johnson), preeminent performers (Elvis, Lin-Manuel Miranda), and sci-tech sovereigns such as Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Compiled with an eye to examples both good and bad, the roster includes an admixture of tyrants, losers, and deposed rulers, and it closes with a blanket summary of positive characteristics supposedly common to great leaders. Despite occasional flubs, such as an all-white selection of “Emperors of Exploration,” said roster also shows commendable racial and geographic diversity—and even includes queens and other notable women in frequent sidebars (in case, apparently, readers don’t want to check out or buy two books). The profiles range from two pages in length to a quick paragraph, and they focus more on quick summaries of accomplishments (or failures) than biographical details. Though the layout has a dense look, the bright colors and graphics, as well as a plethora of photos, period images, and fanciful but realistically modeled modern portraits, provide plenty of life and visual energy.
A salutary gallery of monarchs—or at least monarchial types. (index) (Collective biography. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2019
ISBN: 9781-4263-3533-4
Page Count: 176
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.
In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.
The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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