by Christoph Englert ; illustrated by Tom Clohosy Cole ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2016
An indigestible jumble likely to be left on the launch pad by many of the available higher-powered surveys.
A tour of the universe, from the Big Bang to today’s search for life on other worlds.
Englert leaves the picture incomplete by stopping at the present, but that’s only one problem with this book. His attempts to cram information into the abbreviated, disorganized narrative too often result in either arbitrary leaps (“[Scientists] think dark energy is more like a property of the universe, and that this is the reason why the universe is still EXPANDING today”) or outright misinformation. Examples of the latter include the implication that “thousands” of habitable exoplanets have been discovered (the number is actually around 25, and that’s with a broad definition of “habitable”) and the claim that “Earth’s gravity keeps the Moon from MOVING AROUND EARTH.” The illustrations don’t provide much boost either, as instead of the stunning space photographs or photorealistic images that generally light up this sort of tour, Cole offers mundane painted scenes featuring five young space travelers (all apparently white but one) marveling at garishly colored wonders when they’re not laughing (!) as they and the Earth are “spaghettified” in a black hole. A detachable fold-out poster features a pair of constellation maps on one side without directions for use and an unlabeled view of the Eagle Nebula’s “Pillars of Creation” on the other.
An indigestible jumble likely to be left on the launch pad by many of the available higher-powered surveys. (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-84780-840-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2016
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by Aron Bruhn & illustrated by Joel Ito & Kathleen Kemly ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2010
This survey of body systems tries too hard for a broad audience, mixing paragraphs of lines like, “Without bones we would just be bags of goop,” printed in slightly larger type, with brief but specific discussions of osteoblasts, myofibrils, peristalsis and like parts and functions. Seven single or double gatefolds allow the many simple, brightly painted illustrations space to range from thumbnail size to forearm-length. Many of the visuals offer inside and outside views of a multicultural cast—of children, by and large, though the sexual organs are shown on headless trunks and the final picture provides a peek inside a pregnant mother. Even if younger readers don’t stumble over the vocabulary while older ones reject the art as babyish, this isn’t going to make the top shelf; information is presented in a scattershot way, the text and pictures don’t consistently correspond—three muscles needed to kick a soccer ball are named but not depicted, for instance, and an entire tongue is labeled “taste bud”—and the closing resource list is both print only and partly adult. (glossary, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7091-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
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More In The Series
by Melissa Stewart & illustrated by Cynthia Shaw
by Elizabeth Mann & illustrated by Alan Witschonke ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2011
It’s not exactly an untold tale, but this new telling is worth the read.
A solid new entry in Mann’s exemplary tour of the modern world’s architectural wonders (The Taj Mahal, 2008, etc.).
Even sticking to the basic facts, as the author does, the story of how Lady Liberty was conceived, constructed and bestowed makes a compelling tale. Pointing to the disparate long-term outcomes of the American and French revolutions to explain why the U.S. system of government became so admired in France, Mann takes the statue from Edouard Laboulaye’s pie-in-the-sky proposal at a dinner party in 1865 to the massive opening ceremonies in 1886. Along the way, she highlights the techniques that sculptor Bartholdi used to scale up his ambitious model successfully and the long struggle against public indifference and skepticism on both sides of the Atlantic to fund both the monument itself and its base. Witschonke supplements an array of period photos and prints with full-page or larger painted reconstructions of Bartholdi’s studio and workshop, of the statue’s piecemeal creation and finally of the Lady herself, properly copper colored as she initially was, presiding over New York’s crowded harbor. As she still does.
It’s not exactly an untold tale, but this new telling is worth the read. (measurements, bibliography, "The New Colossus") (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-931414-43-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Mikaya Press
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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