Introducing a dozen North American eco-activists, most of them teenagers or younger adults, Rohmer conveys one inspirational success story after another. With the notable exception of El Hijo Del Santo, a Mexican masked wrestler who stages public events to draw attention to a range of environmental issues, the “heroes” here at least began their work on a local, grassroots level. Alex Lin coordinates an initiative to refurbish discarded computers and other e-waste; Debby Tewa promotes and installs solar-power systems on Arizona’s Hopi Reservation; as a teenager Erica Fernandez stood up to protest the planned construction of a huge natural-gas pipeline through her California town. The author largely steers clear of technical details—which makes John Todd’s invention of biological-waste filters and Kelydra Welcker’s development of a method of testing water for the pollutant C-8 appear easier than seems likely—but provides plenty of encouragement for concerned young readers. Two-toned art and small, murky black-and-white photos add further notes of earnest purpose. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8118-6779-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2009
The Pumpkin Book (32 pp.; $16.95; Sept. 15; 0-8234-1465-5): From seed to vine and blossom to table, Gibbons traces the growth cycle of everyone’s favorite autumn symbol—the pumpkin. Meticulous drawings detail the transformation of tiny seeds to the colorful gourds that appear at roadside stands and stores in the fall. Directions for planting a pumpkin patch, carving a jack-o’-lantern, and drying the seeds give young gardeners the instructions they need to grow and enjoy their own golden globes. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1465-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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