Produced as a companion to an exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, this handsomely designed album pairs photographed fossils and speculative but realistically detailed portraits of hundreds of creatures—nearly all extinct—with descriptive captions and short passages of text that draw connections between them and modern animals. With frequent pauses for side looks at the idea of natural selection, the spectacular array of specimens found at Fossil Lake, Wyo., and other special topics, the smooth narrative moves chronologically from the Cambrian period to the first appearances of Homo sapiens and ice-age mammals. The authors also discuss possible causes for each of five periodic mass extinctions, from the one that brought the Ordovician Period to an end about 450 million years ago to the one that’s happening now. The large but digestible volume of information (lovers of polysyllabic names in particular will be in hog heaven) along with a coherent overview of life’s development on our planet combine to boost this above the general run of prehistory panoramas. (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9486-7
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
