A quick, tasty, wide-ranging trip through the history of food.
A plea to recognize that for all our differences of culture and belief, in at least one way we are all the same.
Beginning 7,800 centuries ago with the earliest evidence of intentionally cooked food, Camlot brings the long human history of growing and preparing edibles up to the arrival of ultra-processed products—frequently pausing along the way to invite readers to chew on factual nuggets ranging from the ability of fetuses at 16 weeks to taste what their mothers are eating to the way Andeans were creating chuño, freeze-dried potatoes, centuries before NASA did the same for astronaut ice cream. Along with salting her narrative with references to haggis, the Haitian soup joumou, and many other traditional dishes (including a tally of 21 types of regional breads), she serves up recent developments in fusion cuisine like Hawaiian pizza (invented in Canada) and chicken tikka masala (created in Scotland) as evidence that foods travel. After discussing the huge problem of food waste, she closes by urging young consumers to eat more like their ancestors did, but to be adventurous, too, and maybe try a few new foods like edible insects. Yum. Reeves’ stylized images of foodstuffs down the ages and racially and culturally diverse eager eaters add buoyant notes.
A quick, tasty, wide-ranging trip through the history of food. (glossary, sources, index) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781771476560
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
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
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