A richly visual and interactive resource for learning about one of the world’s greatest architectural and cultural wonders.
Time-travel along the Great Wall of China in this Chinese import translated by Wu.
At 13,170 miles long and with more than 2,700 years of history, the Great Wall of China is a series of walls and fortifications spanning deserts and mountains. Starting in the city of Nanyang in 656 B.C.E. and ending at the Yanmen Pass in 2022 C.E., the book introduces readers to the awe-inspiring structure’s history, from the influential figures who helped build it to the wall’s evolving uses to notable historical events. Just over a dozen such events are highlighted, with a double-page panoramic scene of a different area of the Great Wall accompanying each short prose overview. Du’s highly detailed realistic illustrations in an earthy palette teem with visual information to pore over. The consistently used bird’s-eye perspective helps establish the immense scale of the Great Wall. Readers see snow-covered mountains, desert sands, green landscapes, and scores of soldiers, laborers, and travelers. As with its predecessor, China Through Time (2020), callouts bordering the pages offer interesting facts and seek-and-find prompts. Hidden in each two-page spread is Hong Yu, a red fox whose activities are used to quiz readers. A short timeline at the closing provides some dynastic context. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A richly visual and interactive resource for learning about one of the world’s greatest architectural and cultural wonders. (glossary) (Nonfiction picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7440-4848-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive dunk into a vast subject—and on course for shorter attention spans.
In the wake of Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts! (2019), Lowery spins out likewise frothy arrays of facts and observations about sharks, whales, giant squid, and smaller but no less extreme (or at least extremely interesting) sea life.
He provides plenty of value-added features, from overviews of oceanic zones and environments to jokes, drawing instructions, and portrait galleries suitable for copying or review. While not one to pass up any opportunity to, for instance, characterize ambergris as “whale vomit perfume” or the clownfish’s protective coating as “snot armor,” he also systematically introduces members of each of the eight orders of sharks, devotes most of a page to the shark’s electroreceptive ampullae of Lorenzini, and even sheds light on the unobvious differences between jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war or the reason why the blue octopus is said to have “arms” rather than “tentacles.” He also argues persuasively that sharks have gotten a bad rap (claiming that more people are killed each year by…vending machines) and closes with pleas to be concerned about plastic waste, to get involved in conservation efforts, and (cannily) to get out and explore our planet because (quoting Jacques-Yves Cousteau) “People protect what they love.” Human figures, some with brown skin, pop up occasionally to comment in the saturated color illustrations. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 45% of actual size.)
An immersive dunk into a vast subject—and on course for shorter attention spans. (bibliography, list of organizations) (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-35973-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
An excellent choice for nature-loving elementary readers.
Footprints show the impact of human actions on Earth in this eco-friendly nonfiction picture book.
Swanson’s simple text, accompanied by clear, detailed photography, highlights the many different sizes and shapes of footprints. A photo of an elephant’s large prints shows a child leaping from one to the next alongside a photograph of the animals walking. Small footprints of insects and other animals are shown before the work showcases a diverse array of human footwear. Footprints “capture adventures at the greatest heights,” the book notes, showing paths on mountains and on the moon. The text moves on to metaphorical footprints, suggesting that young activists follow in the steps of historical changemakers, then briefly addresses digital and carbon footprints, further explained in notes at the back. Swanson’s accessible text is tailored to emergent readers, with few pages featuring more than one sentence; most passages stretch over multiple pages. The metaphorical footprints are likely to require adult discussion about what it means to leave behind traces of one’s actions. The selection of uncredited photos is excellent, with images from history and nature that are well suited to each idea; Rosa Parks and Greta Thunberg are among the changemakers featured. The text doesn’t name many of them, though, which will leave readers who don’t recognize them at a loss.
An excellent choice for nature-loving elementary readers.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7603-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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