A book sure to fly off shelves and into children’s hands.
Astronaut Ellen Ochoa reaches for the stars.
Though young Ellen is transfixed by images of Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, options for women were limited. Differences between her parents (her father, the son of Mexican immigrants, wouldn’t speak Spanish at home; her mother hired a neighbor to teach the children Spanish) hint at their eventual divorce. Ellen and her mother love learning; she credits her mother for her own impressive academic achievements. Following college, Ellen works as an engineer; in 1978, the astronaut program decides to accept women and people of color, and two years later, she applies and embarks on several space missions. She eventually becomes the first Latine and second woman director of the Johnson Space Center. Her perseverance in the face of setbacks and reliance on teamwork come through clearly. The writing is excellent: Essential aspects of astronaut qualifications, training, and experience are described in clear detail, such as the feeling of G-force at takeoff. Brief quotations in a red font let us hear Ellen’s voice. The presence of her flute in both text and images reflects the importance of music to her. Brilliant, sure-handed gouache illustrations add even more vivid life to the well-paced text. Swaths of color, varied blues balancing bright orange-yellows, intensify the realistic images, and frequent changes of perspective and layout will hold readers’ attention. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A book sure to fly off shelves and into children’s hands. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, chronology, selected bibliography) (Picture-book biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780759554948
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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