Art meets biology, with weird and beautiful results.
An elaborate photographic process that brings out every bizarre detail and shimmering nuance of color turns 14 insects into lambent “miniature monsters."
Culled from the photographer’s book for adults Microsculpture (2017), the photos of the preserved specimens could just as well have been chosen as much for their subjects’ names—branch-backed treehopper, splendid-necked dung beetle, orchid cuckoo bee—as for their fantastically baroque features and oily hues. The original portraits, stitched together from thousands of photos and blown up to 10 feet (tall or wide, depending on orientation) for a traveling museum exhibit, must be jaw-dropping. Even here they seem to glimmer with thrillingly menacing, heavily armored elegance on their solid black pages, undisturbed by the labeled side views and details that accompany them. Along with describing Biss’ process and marveling at the sheer numberof insect species in the world, Mone offers succinct observations about each selection’s features and habits, tucks in a mini-disquisition on insect setae (“hair-like bits”), and tries (a little too hard) to lighten the mood: “If [potter wasp males] were human dads, they’d probably just sit around watching football and belching.” His suggestion to dazzled readers that after viewing these “fast, creepy, sneaky, smart, and sometimes a little nasty” creatures “you’ll never look at the insects in your backyard the same way again” is well taken, though. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)
Art meets biology, with weird and beautiful results. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3166-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.
Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.
Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543181
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
Inspiration for nature-loving children.
If you’re a child who collects nature’s treasures, you’re in good company.
This cleverly conceived and appealingly executed title addresses young readers directly, connecting their noticing and collecting habits to those of others who continued to observe, collect, and organize in adulthood. Montgomery introduces a grandly diverse array of nine naturalists, researchers, and explorers from Maria Sibylla Merian, who studied butterflies in the 17th century, to Bonnie Lei, whose present-day research focuses on sea-life conservation. Three are people of color, and the majority are female. The young George Washington Carver collected seed pods; deep-sea explorer William Beebe collected birds’ eggs; and young Jane Goodall put worms under her pillow! Other profiles include Charles Darwin, tree-canopy explorer Margaret Lowman, herpetologist Diego Cisneros-Heredia, and fossil hunter Mary Anning. The vignettes from childhood are engaging, well paced, and smoothly told. Short introductions to the adult scientists follow, in a smaller font. In her author’s note, the writer introduces the concept of naturalist intelligence. Lechuga’s friendly illustrations feature the brown-skinned girl with Afro puffs and overflowing pockets shown on the cover as well as the scientists as children, then as adults, in appropriate times and places. The backmatter includes more about the grown-up scientists and the author’s own sensible “rules for collecting,” which involve respect for nature, the people she lives with, and herself (safety). The illustrator reminds readers that habits of observation are something she also shares with scientists.
Inspiration for nature-loving children. (field guides, selected bibliography) (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-62354-122-4
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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