A child-friendly invitation to dive in.
Striking photographs illustrate this collection of marine animals, a sampling of remarkable creatures that live in and around the ocean.
This substantial revision of the author’s Oceans: Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins and More (2010) repeats much from the earlier volume, including the introduction by Sylvia Earle, the general description of the oceans of the world and their layers of life, and some of the informative text. New material has been added; the design has been spiced up; and old text rearranged and illustrated with different, beautifully reproduced action photographs. Separate, color-tabbed sections describe coral reefs, sharks and rays, marine mammals, whales and dolphins, marine reptiles, marine birds, and “bizarre creatures.” Interspersed are spreads on “ocean extremes” of various sorts (explorers are lowered to the polar ice on “ice buckets,” for instance). The reorganization makes better sense than the original’s, and the new material includes a section on habitats and a description of the National Geographic–sponsored Pristine Seas Project. Rizzo’s information is conversationally delivered, accurate, and likely to appeal. This new version capitalizes on children’s familiarity with the Disney Pixar marine world: a blue tang (like Dory) swims across the front cover; a clownfish (like Nemo) peeks out of the title O, and several more hide among anemones on the back cover. As before, it concludes with 20 sensible ways even landlocked readers can help protect the water world.
A child-friendly invitation to dive in. (glossary, index, picture credits, acknowledgments) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2506-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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