by Jessica Cramp with Grace Hill Smith & Joe Levit ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019
Readers able to navigate a heavy sea of information will enjoy the trip.
An exploration of some of the major features of Earth’s oceans, with interspersed minicomic episodes starring the author as Capt. Aquatica and a great hammerhead shark as her sidekick, Finn.
This third in the Science Superheroes series is presented by a white American researcher, marine conservationist, and National Geographic–funded “Explorer” currently living, working, and advocating for sharks in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Chapter by chapter, she and her co-authors describe the connected oceans that cover about three-fourths of our planet. They consider water movements and storms; examine the tidal and ocean zones and ocean floor; explain various ecosystems; introduce some sharks; survey the history of underwater exploration; and conclude with a section on environmental threats and what can be done. Text boxes introduce a dozen marine scientists, male and female, from varying times and places; several are people of color. Numerous photos and diagrams with informative captions also help break up a relatively dense text. Speech bubbles in the superhero comic sections separating the chapters are numbered so that readers can easily follow the conversation. For the most part the information is accurate though not always explained clearly. (Describing tides, the writers state that a water bulge also forms on the side of the Earth farthest from the moon “because of inertia.”) The introduction clearly distinguishes the fantasy of the comic sections from the factual exposition.
Readers able to navigate a heavy sea of information will enjoy the trip. (afterword, glossary, index, credits and image credits, resources) (Nonfiction. 11-15)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4263-3292-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: March 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2019
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by Meredith Hooper & illustrated by Lucia deLeiris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
Here is an adventure in a unique setting. The lively text and lovely watercolors document three and a half months of a summer the artist and author spent at the South Pole, as part of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. Hooper describes everyday life aboard the research ship Laurence M. Gould, a sturdy orange icebreaker that scientists use to travel between the islands to study the wide variety of animals who come each year to breed and raise their young. An assortment of penguins, elephant seals, giant petrels, huge skuas, and leopard seals hold center stage. Scientists are less important than the serious business of successfully raising young in the short summer season. The author captures the drama of the ice-cold ocean, alive with life: “Swarms of barrel-shaped blue-tinged salps, stuck together in floating chains. Minute creatures with red eyes. Sliding through the water in a curving path like a ribbon.” The artist provides striking paintings of the landscape and the animals in soft washy colors, and quick pencil sketches. The ice is lemon gold with mauve shadows, and the sea a silver gray in the 24-hour day. Animals are expressive and individual. The krill, the tiny shrimp-like creatures that form the backbone of the ocean food chain, appear in luminous glory. The author concludes with a page on global warming, a map of the islands visited, and an index. From cover to cover a personal and informative journey. (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7188-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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by Sy Montgomery & photographed by Eleanor Briggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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