Presents a huge amount of history in a format easy for browsing.
The latest installment in the For Kids series spans the early 1800s to the early 1900s in the United States, covering 100 years of revolutionary changes in manufacturing, transportation and communication.
It was a century of contradictions. Railroads crossed the continent, automobiles puttered along new roadways, skyscrapers soared toward the heavens, and some men made fabulous fortunes—while workers in mines, mills, meatpacking houses and sweatshops labored in stifling conditions to support the new economies. And piles of garbage, lakes of sewer water and lurking diseases made life in cities difficult for those who had to live there. Parents and teachers can relive the times with children by selecting from the 21 activities that supplement the text. They can design their own tenement spaces, make gruel just like that served in orphanages and weave placemats similar to baskets woven in houses of refuge. Dense, text-heavy pages make the historical narrative heavy going, but the well-chosen archival photographs and informative sidebars draw the eye to an easier parallel narrative. And activities such as “Tell a Story with Photographs” may just inspire children to learn more about the work of Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine.
Presents a huge amount of history in a format easy for browsing. (resources, source notes, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61374-690-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
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
IN THE NEWS
A thorough and comprehensive treatment of the subject.
This guide to the various components of researching family history provides helpful hints for young genealogists.
Interest in family research continues across ages, and this volume explores all aspects in great detail. It begins by pointing out that all humankind began in the same place—eastern Africa—and shares what scholars believe about how various groups spread throughout the world. From then on, personal genealogy is approached as a mystery to be solved, a strategy designed to engage its target audience. The recognition that there are many types of families is a critical part of the text. All kinds of threads are explored, from documentary evidence to family stories, with suggestions on how to evaluate them. Each topic is fully described. For example, in addition to addressing how to use census data, the book discusses the origins of the census and the parts that are relevant to family research. The section on DNA is brief but gives scientific perspective. Very little is left to chance, including how to store, preserve, and retrieve the accumulated data. The narrative is inviting and lively in tone, but it doesn’t shy away from potential difficulties. It is richly illustrated in full color with sidebars to provide additional information, though some pages feel too full to digest. Diversity is woven throughout the text, illustrations, sidebars, and graphics.
A thorough and comprehensive treatment of the subject. (glossary, further resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 17, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2983-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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