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
The cleanup, finger pointing, litigation and economic recovery are still ongoing, but this overview of the Deepwater Horizon disaster offers a short and coherent account of the spill itself, the well’s eventual capping and, in broad strokes, the immediate environmental impact. Noting that the initial explosion occurred the very night of a ceremony commending the crew’s safety record (but not going into the long tally of construction shortcuts that made that ceremony so disingenuous), Landau provides a linear nonjudgmental account of major events between the April 20 eruption and the announcement of a permanent plug on Sep. 19, 2010. Big color photos add views of the platform burning, ships cleaning up oil slicks, oil-soaked wildlife and damaged coastal areas, along with smaller murky pictures of the failed blowout preventer on the ocean floor and the replacement cap. Additional graphics provide clear views of the technology—the rig itself, a cross-section of the blowout preventer and the relief well in relation to the original well—and a map of the Gulf coastline shows the affected areas. Limited, out of date and entirely based on secondary sources as it is, this still presents younger audiences a slightly more complete picture than Mona Chiang’s Oil Spill Disaster (2000). Includes eco-activities, resource lists and a tally of other major spills. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7485-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
"A human is a pretty wild thing," argues the author of this collection of curious facts and intriguing studies about human behavior. With a breezy text supported by a lively design, the author of Gross Universe (2004) again presents science in a way certain to attract middle-grade and middle-school readers. Chapters on the senses, emotions, communication and interactions with other human beings cover a variety of topics, each on headlined double-page spreads. Each chapter includes a description of “a cool study” organized into appropriate sections: question, observation, experiment (illustrated with step by step cartoons), results and summary. “Are you an animal?” sidebars describe comparable animal behavior. From dirty diapers to canned laughter to body language, he finds topics that both appeal and enlighten. Directly addressing readers, he invites participation by asking questions—“How are you sitting right now?” “Does smell affect your dreams?” “Does your heart race when….?”—and draws them in further with do-it-yourself experiments. A section on good manners even includes guidelines for behavior at a concert—differentiating between classical and rock. The digital art includes bits of photographs, line drawings, the use of color and shapes to help organize the print and plenty of symbols. No specific sources are cited, but an extensive list of experts is acknowledged. Popular science through and through, you can’t help enjoying this. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-926818-07-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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