A quick skim; flashy though not particularly nourishing.
More hip pop-art science from Basher and Green, though here the collaborators may have “bytten” off more than they can chew.
They lead off with a tribute to “that ancient Greek brainiac” Archimedes, the only inventor who gets more than a quick name-drop. Then, portrait-gallery–style, the team introduces several dozen personified machines from “Wheel and Axle” (“Hey there, let’s start this thing rollin’!”) to “Radar” and “Rocket.” Household appliances like “Toilet” and (landline) “Telephone” also step up to the mike, as do such basic materials as “Concrete” and “Plastic,” as well as high-tech wizardry including “User Interface” and “Internet.” Each subject introduces itself with a pair of paragraphs over a trio of unrelated facts, while Basher provides for each a stylized, considerably simplified cartoon portrait anthropomorphized by a smiling white face with slanted, slit eyes. Though readers will come away at least exposed to terms like “thermosetting” and “laser sintering,” Green’s facts aren’t always kosher—“once defunct,” says Satellite, “we move to a graveyard orbit”—or even comprehensible (“World’s most efficient gas turbine: 60%.”). Furthermore, despite statements from “Smart Card” and “Particle Accelerator” not all of the entries are so cutting-edge; the “Cell Phone,” for instance, only makes phone calls and sends texts.
A quick skim; flashy though not particularly nourishing. (foldout poster) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6819-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
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
McMahon’s enthusiasm for his topic may get readers off the ground—but not into orbit. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
A buoyant but slapped-together look at current and future efforts to get more people into space.
This brief survey includes a quick history of space flight, mentions of and quotes from several astronauts or actual space tourists and enticing glimpses of space hotels, a space elevator and possible tourist destinations on other planets. Unfortunately, this enticing subject is bogged down by incomplete explanations and occasionally misleading claims. Readers will be unenlightened by the author’s non-explanation of zero gravity and perhaps actively confused by the introduction of the term "microgravity." Further, one section implies that Bigelow Aerospace is simply in the space-hotel business (a claim denied on the company’s site) rather than the more complex commercial venture it is. Mora’s bland painted representations of the space shuttle, SpaceShipOne and other craft don’t measure up to photos and commercially produced graphic images easily found elsewhere. Five low-tech projects seek to complement the material, ranging from a doable cardboard centrifuge to a challenging multi-stage balloon rocket and a “space vacation plane” so complex that all the instructions had to be moved to an online site.
McMahon’s enthusiasm for his topic may get readers off the ground—but not into orbit. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55453-368-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
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