Geography and world records combine for undeniable fun.
And now, an atlas of world records.
It seems we will never tire of the smallest, the biggest, the lightest, the heaviest, the slowest, the fastest, the shortest, the longest, the quietest, the loudest, the coldest, and the hottest. Figueras and the illustrators have situated a variety of these opposing extremes on two-page map spreads of the world, color-coded by broad category (dinosaurs, technology, sports, etc.). They have then used the subsequent few pages before the next map to detail the entries. Biggest and smallest sport the Airbus A380 and teacup Yorkshire terriers, an almost 4-inch-long tongue and a 3 ½-inch nose, and the pygmy marmoset and the nano-frog, while the slowest and the fastest give readers the SR-71 Blackbird, Usain Bolt, the three-toed sloth, and the burgundy snail. The book highlights the amazing diversity of the world, both artificial and natural, and the creators do a good job at providing vest-pocket highlights of such amazing wonders: The longest flight of a bird is 200 days (the alpine swift), and the loudest insect is as loud as a motorcycle (the water boatman). There is ample mixture of the absurd (loudest recorded belch) and the scientific (mammal with the lowest body temperature: the Arctic ground squirrel). One mind-bender that might need some further research is the fastest roller coaster, clocked at 149,129 mph, evidently with a broken clock.
Geography and world records combine for undeniable fun. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-3-89955-814-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a helter-skelter scrapbook format, Cleare, a veteran mountaineer, profiles five of the world’s most renowned mountains—K2, the Eiger, the Matterhorn, Everest and Mount McKinley—and identifies some of the major historical expeditions to their summits. Top-to-bottom views of each peak are provided via single, double or (for Everest) wall-poster-sized triple foldouts. Along with those, dozens of smaller captioned photos, maps, images or realistic reconstructions depict noted climbers of the past, local wildlife, old- and new-style climbing gear, wind and weather patterns, climbers’ camps, glaciers and rugged landscapes. Likewise, each peak receives an introductory passage of dramatic prose (“Mount McKinley is a colossal, icy complex of ridges, spurs, buttresses, and hanging glaciers,” forming “a crucible of particularly evil weather”). This is accompanied by assemblages of captions and commentary in smaller type that detail its challenges and the often-unhappy history of climbers who faced them. The level of detail is specific enough to include views and comparisons of the actual routes up each mountain, and readers are expected to be clear on the difference between a cirque and a serac, or a “technical” and a “nontechnical” climb. Armchair climbers who can weather the random-feeling arrangement of pictures and the overall absence of narrative flow are in for thrills. (Informational browsing item. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6573-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
During the Great Depression, women's ice-hockey teams across Canada fought an uphill battle to scrape together enough money...
In the 1930s, the Canadian female ice-hockey team called the Rivulettes dominated the ice.
During the Great Depression, women's ice-hockey teams across Canada fought an uphill battle to scrape together enough money to play. From 1931-1940, the Preston Rivulettes, led by Hilda Ranscome, overwhelmed all other teams, capturing the national title in the four years that they could afford to travel far enough to compete for it. With the pressure of the war, and because they were no longer capturing fan enthusiasm since they always won, the Rivulettes disbanded in 1942. After the war, the culture had changed, and women’s ice hockey nearly disappeared until a recent rebirth. This effort describes in detail many of the key games the team played over that decade and the way that their remarkable record has been largely ignored by the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Though the book effectively captures the scrappy nature of the games (with numerous penalties in each for high sticking and fighting), disappointingly, it lacks any significant biographical information on team members. Only a couple are very briefly sketched. Readers will wonder what made this team so great; more information about the players might have provided key insights.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55277-721-3
Page Count: 136
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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