A year’s worth of letters between elementary students and Earth highlight practical ways to care for our planet.
The students of Room 5 hope to “do our part” to care for their world. In January, they send a letter to Earth asking for suggestions; the Earth happily replies. This series of monthly exchanges includes familiar recommendations, beginning with turning off the lights and ending with regifting Christmas presents with recycled wrappings, and why these actions matter. What begins as an all-class activity becomes an “Earth Heroes” club by the following September, led by Bernard, the most enthusiastic correspondent. Over the year they’ve adopted reusable water bottles, planted a garden, begun to bike to school, used both sides of pieces of paper, and convinced the school cafeteria to contribute compost to their garden, among other actions. In the process, Bernard, a boy with light-brown skin, even becomes more skillful at rhyming. In cheerful, bustling illustrations, Uribe depicts a wonderfully diverse group of schoolchildren indoors and out. They vary in hair, eye, and skin color and hairstyle; some wear glasses or use mobility aids. The pages with Earth’s letters feature smiling globes, attractive scenery, and appealing animals, including a sea turtle, a winsome black-footed ferret, and even a nesting red knot. The final spread includes a simple explanation of climate change’s causes and effects and a summary of things Earth Heroes can do. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 94.1% of actual size.)
A well-thought-out presentation of an important environmental message. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-291532-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.
Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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BOOK REVIEW
Flaps and pull-tabs in assorted astro-scenes reveal several wonders of the universe as well as inside glimpses of observatories, rockets, a space suit, and the International Space Station.
Interactive features include a spinnable Milky Way, pop-up launches of Ariane and Soyuz rockets, a solar-system tour, visits to the surfaces of the moon and Mars, and cutaway views beneath long, thin flaps of an international array of launch vehicles. Despite these bells and whistles, this import is far from ready for liftoff. Not only has Antarctica somehow gone missing from the pop-up globe, but Baumann’s commentary (at least in Booker’s translation from the French original) shows more enthusiasm than strict attention to accuracy. Both Mercury and Venus are designated “hottest planet” (right answer: Venus); claims that there is no gravity in space and that black holes are a type of star are at best simplistic; and “we do not know what [other galaxies] actually look like” is nonsensical. Moreover, in a clumsy attempt to diversify the cast on a spread about astronaut training, Latyk gives an (evidently) Asian figure caricatured slit eyes and yellow skin.
A launch-pad fizzle. (Informational pop-up picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2016
ISBN: 979-1-02760-197-4
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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