Brian and Danny are introduced to the laws of chance through coin tossing, spinner and card games, and the weather; they even discover that whenever 23 or more people get together, chances are better than even that at least two will have the same birthday. Although the fictional component strains credibility (the two boys spend most of their waking time at home, school, and even at birthday parties talking about the laws of chance), setting a probability primer in everyday life does reduce its pedantry. A minor cavil: none of the cheery, informal drawings actually illustrates the ideas presented, missing a good opportunity to introduce charts and graphs as a help to visualization. Nonetheless, a lively introduction that may hook a budding physicist (or gambler) on the endless fascination of the vagaries of numbers. (Nonfiction. 9+)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-56516-2
Page Count: 102
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
An alphabetic chronicle of all the necessities for a sleepover is the foundation for this energetic tale about a young girl’s visit with her grandfather. In sprightly rhyming verse, the child proudly displays her indispensable treasures, excavated from an overnight bag that is larger than she is. Items such as Apples, stuffed sleeping pals Bunny and Bear, and Chalk to decorate the sidewalk share space with more mundane articles: Slippers, Toothbrush, and Underwear. Paul incorporates the alphabet into the text, with the featured letters highlighted in bold colors, while Smith’s cheerful watercolors capture the child’s boundless enthusiasm; they also adroitly convey the affectionate bond between grandfather and girl. Demonstrating keen understanding of a child’s universe, this rollicking recitation is a delight. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2511-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The first in the News Hounds geography series opens with chatty instructions from Axelrod (Pigs on the Ball, 1998, etc.) on how to read the book—first for fun, and then for education. Instructions, and the need to instruct, may be the book’s main flaw. The book earnestly assures parents and teachers that the series has been designed around five fundamental themes set forth by the National Council of Geography Education and the Association of American Geographers. Any readers still left in the room can then begin the story, involving press coverage of a hot-air balloon race in Texas by a roving three-person TV news team, all of them dogs. Gear packed, the reporters hop into the news van, which is driven by the weather girl, a golden retriever with long, silky ears, who in a nifty bit of sexist characterization stops to shop. They get to the airfield in time to shoot opening footage and anchorman Isaac reels off copy that will tax beginning readers. There is more, but this kind of book may put readers off geography permanently. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-82409-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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