A quick once-over of this hot-button topic, though strongly argued if superficial and oddly illustrated. Pointedly dismissing Intelligent Design and not even bothering to “teach the controversy,” Loxton explains in nontechnical language the current understanding of how species evolve through Natural Selection—which he rightly defines as “survival of the adequate.” After showing how applecart-upsetting evidence of extinct animals and the geologic scale of time led to “Darwin’s Big Idea,” he describes the processes of selection in answers to a series of skeptically posed questions like, “How could evolution produce something as complicated as my eyes?” However, not only does he fail to provide any source notes or links to further resources, he leaves readers largely in the dark about evolution’s genetic mechanism. Furthermore, the illustrations are a patchwork jumble of color photos, sketchy diagrams, awkwardly drawn cartoon figures and uncommonly photorealistic portraits of prehistoric creatures. Better-founded introductions like Robert Winston’s Evolution Revolution: From Darwin to DNA (2009) or Kristan Lawson’s Darwin and Evolution for Kids: His Life and Ideas with 21 Activities (2003) will likely edge out this one in the struggle to survive. (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55453-430-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2010
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
The Pumpkin Book (32 pp.; $16.95; Sept. 15; 0-8234-1465-5): From seed to vine and blossom to table, Gibbons traces the growth cycle of everyone’s favorite autumn symbol—the pumpkin. Meticulous drawings detail the transformation of tiny seeds to the colorful gourds that appear at roadside stands and stores in the fall. Directions for planting a pumpkin patch, carving a jack-o’-lantern, and drying the seeds give young gardeners the instructions they need to grow and enjoy their own golden globes. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1465-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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