Long for a sustained read-through but rich in tantalizing tidbits for young globe-trotters.
For armchair travelers, quick flits through the countries of the world (plus a few extras), with keepsake snippets of facts, foods, or festivals for each.
After rightly acknowledging at the outset that the notion of country is a fuzzy one, Fullman proceeds on by continent to alight in 199 of them, adding Antarctica and a roundup of territories at the end. Steering clear of almanac-style barrages of descriptions and statistics, he supplies just a flag and location map for each half- to two-page entry, five “key” facts, and a handful of observations. Most of the last focus on distinctive celebrations, street food, wildlife, or natural wonders, but the author isn’t shy about referring to recent civil wars and ongoing political tensions either. If a stop in “Israel and the Palestinian Territories” or his failure to mention that Vietnam was once two countries rub some older readers the wrong way, younger ones will more likely zero in on how people in Caracas roller-skate to church during the Christmas season; that Bolivia has 37 official languages (while the U.S. has none); or, in contrast to Belgium’s “drool-worthy” cuisine, hákarl (fermented shark served in Iceland) “has a very powerful ammonia-like taste (apparently).” Overall the content is remarkably reliable. Underscoring frequent nods to the racial and ethnic diversity of populations in many locales, the small human figures that Blake scatters among her stylized vignettes are mostly dark-skinned.
Long for a sustained read-through but rich in tantalizing tidbits for young globe-trotters. (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-913519-47-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Welbeck Publishing Group
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
Unmeasured nonsense.
Introductions to select common units of length, mass/weight, and intensity.
Clean page design and a tidily diverse cast of cartoon measurers and observers illustrating each example dress up but can’t disguise a narrative that is marred with errors, arbitrary entries, and oversimplifications. The misinformation begins with a claim that intergalactic—and, a few pages later, interstellar—distances are measured in astronomical units. It then goes on to define “month” as “the amount of time it takes the Moon to orbit the Earth, or about 30 days,” aver that “fortnight” is being used more and more by “Yanks,” and list the indeterminate “eon” as a unit of measure just like “year” and “millennium.” Fiedler explains the more or less self-evident term “light-year” but not “parsec” (in an entry that does not take the time to clear up the confusion about AUs) and correctly but uselessly suggests that doughnuts as well as molecules can be numbered in “moles.” She also neglects to mention that the boiling point of water varies with altitude or that decibels and Richter scale numbers are logarithmic. A stereotypically dressed Mexican sampling hot peppers for the Scoville scale and a penguin posing next to an igloo at the South Pole sour Kearney’s generally comical art.
Unmeasured nonsense. (abbreviated table of conversions) (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63322-297-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Walter Foster Jr.
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
The pictures are a patchwork, but the authorial voice is distinct and the story has its unique aspects.
An astronaut’s story, from early adventures with his twin brother (who also became an astronaut) to record-breaking feats in space.
Though in most respects typical of astronaut profiles for younger readers, this one features unusually personal notes—a nod to his “girlfriend,” Amiko, and early childhood memories of hiding in the bedroom with his brother when their parents fought—and also vivid writing. Kelly describes re-entry as “like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel—but while you’re on fire!” In a personable voice he highlights major youthful experiences, then goes on to give quicker accounts of his training and career, which began with a life-changing reading of Tom Wolfe’s The Right Stuff (1979) and culminated in four missions capped by a year spent in orbit to track long-term physical changes, with his brother back on Earth serving as control. (Kelly will doubtless cover all of this in greater detail in his memoir for adult readers, scheduled for publication at the same time.) In an ill-judged attempt to fill in gaps, the illustrations, most of which are a mix of family snapshots and official NASA photos, alternate with or are superimposed on very simply drawn cartoon portraits or frames. The Kelly family is white; some astronauts and other figures in both the photos and in Ceolin’s scenes are dark-skinned.
The pictures are a patchwork, but the authorial voice is distinct and the story has its unique aspects. (Picture book/autobiography. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6377-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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