Young nature lovers will gobble this up.
A naturalist recalls his year as a turkey “mother.”
In 1991, wildlife lover Hutto hatched, imprinted, and raised two clutches of wild turkey eggs, entering their wild world for over a year. He later published a book about this experience, Illumination in the Flatwoods: A Season Living Among the Wild Turkeys (1995). A re-creation of his experience by actor Jeff Palmer became a PBS documentary, My Life as a Turkey, the basis for this chronologically told account, which is chock-full of details about turkey life and even some deaths. Co-written with Guiberson, the third-person narrative reflects Hutto’s thoughts at the time. It’s both a record of an intense experience and a reflection on human relationships with the natural world. After the eggs hatched, the new “mother” spent most of his daylight hours watching and exploring with his turkey family, seeing his Florida fields and forest through their eyes. He was especially surprised to discover how much more wildlife he saw as part of the flock. After his jakes and hens had matured and left, he missed the window they offered. He was thrilled when one, Turkey Boy, returned to share a few more months with him before disappearing for good. The author’s drawings and a section of photographs complete the package.
Young nature lovers will gobble this up. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-385-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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