by Hazel Mary Martell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1995
This fascinating survey, subtitled ``From the Ice Age to the Fall of Rome,'' provides a basic grounding in mankind's rise to organized societies, ending at a.d. 600. It attempts to hit the highlights of virtually every major ancient civilization, beginning in prehistoric times and proceeding geographically, covering each populated land mass and dwelling on civilizations for which more information is available. Each chapter opens with a map showing various regions of influence and is then divided into subchapters by time period. Full-color illustrations, informative captions, and fact boxes make this introduction highly accessible. The lack of bibliography will not deter most readers from exploring further after this fine start. (maps, glossaries, chronologies, index) (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 1-85697-565-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
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by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2020
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.
In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.
The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter
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by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Jeanette Winter
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by Jonah Winter ; illustrated by Bob Staake
by Betsy Maestro & illustrated by Giulio Maestro ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 31, 2000
Partly filling the historical gap between their New Americans: Colonial Times, 1620-1689 (1998) and A More Perfect Union: The Story of Our Constitution (1987), the Maestros examine King William’s War, Queen Anne’s War, the War of Jenkins’ Ear, and other half-forgotten conflicts usually lumped together as the French and Indian Wars. Concluding that these wars were fought for economic control of North America and paralleled the first stirrings of a sense of national unity, the authors trace the growth of trade routes and other lines of communication. They also pay close attention to the wars’ consistently lamentable effects on the Native American groups allied with either the French or the British forces. Though much of the fighting and strategic maneuvering took place in what is now Canada, the Maestros take their most widely angled views of territories that became part of the United States. With plenty of precisely drafted battle scenes, street plans, portraits, maps, and landscapes, plus a spread of additional information on topics as diverse as colonial money and the Iroquois League, they bring a formative era in our country’s history into sharp focus for young readers. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-688-13450-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
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by Betsy Maestro & illustrated by Giulio Maestro
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by Betsy Maestro & illustrated by Giulio Maestro
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by Betsy Maestro & illustrated by Giulio Maestro
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