This eye-catching book makes the complicated human body much less so while still providing enough detail to allow readers to...
Cartoon guide Professor Astrocat and his animal team take readers on an in-depth tour of the major functions and components of the human body.
Walliman and Newman have the astro-animals explore the body by using a cartoon version of Walliman himself as the subject. The book starts at the very beginning—what it means to be alive—and progresses with just enough detail through complicated structures and processes. The astro-animals use some fictionalized devices, such as a “ ‘particle reduction’ orb,” to shrink down and really get inside the body. It’s gimmicky but cute, much like the space-suited animals themselves. Overall, the book is very well-organized. Each page or double-page layout is limited to one topic. Newman’s illustrations are consistently bold and inviting, and the comic-book look both appeals to young readers and maintains the flow. Some pages do require time to decipher, as with a called-out detail with a cross-section of a tooth that feels dissociated from the overall spread. Fun factoids are included organically. A respectfully scientific approach to reproduction and growing up satisfies curiosity while allowing for follow-up conversation. The final “future science” pages will give eager readers plenty of fascinating topics for further research. Though subject “Walliman” is white, other humans depicted are diverse.
This eye-catching book makes the complicated human body much less so while still providing enough detail to allow readers to linger and explore. (combined glossary-index.) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-911171-14-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Flying Eye Books
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An updated and more melodramatically titled version of a 1994 title, it sounds warnings that have grown all the more...
Bright, sharp nature photos and a special focus on ice-based ecosystems set this survey apart from the usual run of assignment titles on glaciers and the polar regions.
Returning continually to the dangerous effects of global warming, the authors describe changes in climate conditions at both poles and explain how those changes affect glaciers and icebergs. Wilson and León go on to introduce threatened or officially endangered life forms that live in those habitats. These range from algae and the glacier flea (“Each night it freezes, hard as a popsicle, to the surface ice until warmer daytime temperatures free it”) to polar bears and penguins. With side glances at Mount Kilimanjaro and the Swiss Alps, the photos capture Arctic foxes in both winter and summer coats, penguins and puffins at their most photogenic, glaciers rolling grandly down to sea and luminous views of sunlit icebergs and a glacial ice cave. Bulleted facts at the end reinforce the message; leads to eco-activist organizations provide readers motivated by it with means to get involved.
An updated and more melodramatically titled version of a 1994 title, it sounds warnings that have grown all the more immediate. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9799759-0-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: London Town Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
A lively and original approach to a complex subject.
A boy who looks like he’s visiting from a digital cartoon film provides step-by-step instructions so his friends can build a planet just like the one we inhabit.
From a bang-up beginning to finishing touches (including human beings) and some suggestions for planet care, this lighthearted approach to the origins of the universe, the Earth and its inhabitants covers 13.7 billion years of development in 64 pages of short, snappy prose. Lively design, liberal use of comic-style illustrations, text presented in small plates (usually a single paragraph with a heading) and frequent time checks make this information easily digestible. Each step covers four to six pages. The author also introduces big numbers, small particles, and long time and distance scales. He covers star life and planet formation, even including the most common theory about the origin of our moon. Timelines at the beginning and near the end will help readers get a sense of the whole. Distilling this much science is a challenge, and space permits the exploration of only a few alternate theories. There are points on which specialists may disagree, occasional oversimplifications and omissions, and facts overtaken by new discoveries. (The book was first published in Australia in 2012.) But overall, the content is sound and likely to provide a solid structure for further learning.
A lively and original approach to a complex subject. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-894786-88-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2014
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