More fizzle than blast, but could heat up dormant interest in the topic.
Pop ups and cross sections add drama to a quick overview of volcanoes in fact and legend.
In a geological overview, this French import offers terse introductions to plate tectonics, pyroclastic and other types of eruptions, and extraterrestrial equivalents such as Olympus Mons on Mars. There are also brief accounts of the eruption of Vesuvius witnessed by Pliny the Elder (“He died, but his notes recorded many important scientific details”) and the legendary origins of Mount Fuji and the Hawaiian volcanoes as well as how more-recent researchers traced ash in polar ice to a climate-changing Indonesian eruption in 1257. Lit up by Day-Glo orange highlights, blocky 3-D depictions of generic blasts on the surface and at the bottom of the sea join layered glimpses of volcanologists at work among glowing lava flows and a floating look at the Earth’s inner structure. These are all capped by a view of the peaceful-looking Fuji that looms over its reflection in tranquil waters. “But nothing about volcanoes,” Daugey writes, “is ever completely certain!” Human figures not swathed in protective gear are mostly but not uniformly white.
More fizzle than blast, but could heat up dormant interest in the topic. (Informational pop up. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-500-65222-0
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A launch-pad fizzle.
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. 29, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A picture book combines the exuberance of children and the drama found in nature for a sly lesson on power-sharing. Henderson (Newborn, 1999, etc.) lands on the wide reaches of a windy beach where young Jim expansively flings wide his arms and claims “All this is mine!” So it seems until the wind blows in a gale so violent that it smashes objects and tears “through the dreams of people sleeping.” An eerie series of black-and-white paintings shows the white-capped waves breaking ever higher and crashing inland; these are so frightening that Jim cries out to his mother, “The sea! It’s coming!” Happily enough, Jim and his mother are able to run up the hill to a grandmother’s house where they weather the storm safely. The next time Jim speaks to the wind, on a much quieter beach, he whispers, “All this is yours.” Large type, appealing pastel illustrations, and a dose of proper perspective on humankind’s power over nature make this book a fine choice for story hours as well as nature collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0904-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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