A cogent, immersive object lesson in the scientific method, perseverance, and the historical development of ideas.
Pattison’s latest Moments in Science nonfiction picture book tells of how Nicholas Copernicus challenged the long-standing belief that all celestial bodies orbit Earth.
In 1497, a century before the telescope was invented, the 24-year-old Copernicus assisted astronomer Domenico Maria da Novara in timing the moon’s eclipse of the star Aldebaran. The eclipse concluded more quickly than expected, thus casting doubt upon Ptolemy’s popular notion that the moon, planets, and stars circled the Earth. Copernicus resolved to bring mathematical precision to astronomy, and as a cleric for the Catholic Church, he pursued his inquiries for the next three decades, crafting the heliocentric theory of planetary movements and rotation. His theory proved to reliably predict astronomical occurrences. Prior to his 1543 death, he published his findings; his book On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres occasioned initial interest but then a torrent of religious censure before, centuries later, finally being accepted as scientifically accurate. Pattison relates Copernicus’ story in a straightforward, lucid manner, making the sometimes-complex subject matter accessible to an elementary-school-age readership. A faux-handwritten font helps to convey a sense of historicity, and Willis’ textured and softly lit two-page-spread illustrations beautifully capture various trappings of the historical period. The book concludes with a biographical addendum and notes on the solar system.
A cogent, immersive object lesson in the scientific method, perseverance, and the historical development of ideas.Pub Date: July 7, 2026
ISBN: 9781629443355
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Mims House
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
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