A well-crafted book that tells an engaging story of scientific research, hope, and determination.
This illustrated nonfiction children’s book tells of how Chinese scientist Tu Youyou helped to create a cure for a deadly disease.
In 1969, Tu was part of a team searching for a treatment for malaria, which is caused by mosquito bites that transfer Plasmodiumparasites that cause severe chills and fevers. More than 500,000 people per year were dying from the disease worldwide. Tu’s research led her to a book of traditional Chinese medicine by Ge Hong that recommended soaking “a handful of sweet wormwood” in about two liters of water before “squeez[ing] out the juice” for patients to drink and reduce their fevers. Tu tested various types of plants and extracted compounds from them, but none proved to be completely effective. After more research, she reread Ge Hong’s book and realized she’d been using the wrong extraction technique. After modifying her own method, she discovered that extractions from one plant, Artemisia annua, completely killed the malaria parasite in mice and monkeys. After successful treatment of multiple human patients, Tu was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in physiology for her contributions. Pattison’s book presents a remarkably concise and well-researched children’s book on a complex scientific topic. Willis’ full-color, painterly illustrations of Tu and her settings pair perfectly with the text and provide fun, occasionally abstract images. The occasional incorporation of non-English words and their pronunciations, such as nüèjí(malaria), is informative. Pattison admirably maintains accuracy and specificity while relating only key details and major events of the treatment’s research and development process.
A well-crafted book that tells an engaging story of scientific research, hope, and determination.Pub Date: March 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-62944-195-5
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Mims House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts.
Beachcombers and shell seekers, gather ’round and meet Shelby and Watts, Planetary Investigators.
When Fred the hermit crab can’t find a new, larger shell to move into, he seeks out the “brilliant brains” of Shelby and Watts. Shelby, a fox, is the detective in the duo, and Watts, a badger, loves facts, adding simple fun ones—about hermit crabs, tides, tide-pool dwellers, how shells are used, etc.—throughout the story. Watts also loves to catalog clues in his notebook. In fact, the first mystery that Shelby solves is that of Watts’ lost notebook. Young readers can watch Shelby investigate, solve, and explain her deductive process, all while learning to carefully examine all the details in each graphic panel. Once the missing shells are found, it’s “time for the hermit crab shuffle,” in which the members of a colony of hermit crabs all line up and trade up to larger homes. Final pages include “Earth-Saving Tips from Shelby & Watts,” such as taking pictures of shells instead of collecting them, eating seafood from sustainable sources, and cleaning up the beach. The seven chapters are of varying length, but with several one-panel pages and many pages with low word count, the book is shorter than it appears, which should be a confidence boost for young readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Models attention to detail and deductive reasoning in a fun beach setting, complete with interesting facts. (Graphic early reader/mystery. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-20531-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
