An uneven geographic offering.
An early-reader introduction to the Gobi Desert.
The expository text introduces the Gobi Desert as “one of the wildest habitats on Earth.” Words in boldface are included in a backmatter glossary, and accompanying photographs help provide context clues for these words and others that might be unfamiliar to newly fluent readers. After identifying the desert as “the largest desert in Asia and the fifth largest in the world,” the text moves through its five regions, highlighting predator-and-prey relationships between animals that live in this harsh environment. Although the title’s reference to “Life” might make some readers look for information about flora or human life in the Gobi Desert, the book does very little to cover these areas. Perhaps more problematic is the frequent misalignment between text and photographs, which often introduce animal life without depicting the scenarios the text describes. For example, one passage reads, “A wolf nears a herd of khulan. Bark! The males yell and kick at it,” and the photo shows the donkeylike animals running, but there is no wolf present in the image. Later, desertification is described as a threat to unpictured “nearby cities,” and then text passes the buck to child readers, asking them, “What will you do to make a difference?” after imploring them to study science. Talk about harsh!
An uneven geographic offering. (Informational early reader. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-8491-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Unmeasured nonsense.
Introductions to select common units of length, mass/weight, and intensity.
Clean page design and a tidily diverse cast of cartoon measurers and observers illustrating each example dress up but can’t disguise a narrative that is marred with errors, arbitrary entries, and oversimplifications. The misinformation begins with a claim that intergalactic—and, a few pages later, interstellar—distances are measured in astronomical units. It then goes on to define “month” as “the amount of time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth, or about 30 days,” aver that “fortnight” is being used more and more by “Yanks,” and list the indeterminate “eon” as a unit of measure just like “year” and “millennium.” Fiedler explains the more or less self-evident term “light-year” but not “parsec” (in an entry that does not take the time to clear up the confusion about AUs) and correctly but uselessly suggests that doughnuts as well as molecules can be numbered in “moles.” She also neglects to mention that the boiling point of water varies with altitude or that decibels and Richter scale numbers are logarithmic. A stereotypically dressed Mexican sampling hot peppers for the Scoville scale and a penguin posing next to an igloo at the South Pole sour Kearney’s generally comical art.
Unmeasured nonsense. (abbreviated table of conversions) (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63322-297-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
The pictures are a patchwork, but the authorial voice is distinct and the story has its unique aspects.
An astronaut’s story, from early adventures with his twin brother (who also became an astronaut) to record-breaking feats in space.
Though in most respects typical of astronaut profiles for younger readers, this one features unusually personal notes—a nod to his “girlfriend,” Amiko, and early childhood memories of hiding in the bedroom with his brother when their parents fought—and also vivid writing. Kelly describes re-entry as “like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel—but while you’re on fire!” In a personable voice he highlights major youthful experiences, then goes on to give quicker accounts of his training and career, which began with a life-changing reading of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff (1979) and culminated in four missions capped by a year spent in orbit to track long-term physical changes, with his brother back on Earth serving as control. (Kelly will doubtless cover all of this in greater detail in his memoir for adult readers, scheduled for publication at the same time.) In an ill-judged attempt to fill in gaps, the illustrations, most of which are a mix of family snapshots and official NASA photos, alternate with or are superimposed on very simply drawn cartoon portraits or frames. The Kelly family is white; some astronauts and other figures in both the photos and in Ceolin’s scenes are dark-skinned.
The pictures are a patchwork, but the authorial voice is distinct and the story has its unique aspects. (Picture book/autobiography. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6377-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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