Architecture really is for kids! This is a surprisingly informative and accessible concept book.
Think architecture isn’t for little ones? This informational board book distills architectural concepts into manageable pieces.
Throughout this well-organized text, short sentences clearly define various architectural terms, informing readers that “an architect plans a building.” Topics include architectural history, with illustrations of an early hut, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Colosseum; varieties of construction materials; and different architectural styles. Art and words smoothly blend to make information accessible but without talking down to child readers; a page with the text “Some buildings are made of stone” has a small image of interlocking stones above a medieval castle so readers can visualize how they form a wall. Larger, bolder type nicely emphasizes building-related words. The narrative collapses slightly when naming “classical” and “modern” styles along with a single example (the Taj Mahal for the former and the Sydney Opera House for the latter); it’s dubious if it will be enough information to be conceptually meaningful. Pleasant cartoon art in cheery colors and the technically precise buildings will draw readers, especially a single portrait-oriented page that captures the “fairy tale” ornateness of St. Basil’s Cathedral. The book ends with two children of color (all the humans are racially diverse) creating a blueprint for a block tower, followed by a sturdy flap revealing the towering structure, bringing it all back to a child’s level.
Architecture really is for kids! This is a surprisingly informative and accessible concept book. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-64880-2
Page Count: 22
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
A mismatch in every way.
An introduction to 10 scientists for the youngest readers.
Each historical or modern figure is featured on their own double-page spread, which includes a close-up portrait and rhyming couplets on the verso, and the facing page features the scientist in action and a caption of a sentence or two offering more information about their work but often written at a level far beyond the board-book audience’s developmental capacity. The usual suspects are here, including Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, but women and scientists of color can also be found, such as naturalist and painter Maria Sibylla Merian and particle physicist Sau Lan Wu. The verse is strained, forced, and often doesn’t scan (for Katherine Johnson: “This little scientist got the math right / to help NASA astronauts launch outer space flight”). In an evident attempt to be cute, the phrase “This little scientist…” introduces the figures and has the effect of demeaning the women, people of color, and people with disabilities depicted. The art, like others in the This Little series, features bobbleheaded caricatures of each figure in bold colors. The final two pages present 17 additional scientists in portraiture from throughout history and around the world and a brief caption, with a blank space left open for “You!”
A mismatch in every way. (Board book. 2-3)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0108-2
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little fingers may enjoy sliding the panels more than discovering the answers underneath.
Young readers can move small sliders to reveal the home of the animal featured on the outside of the panel.
Each double-page spread features a specific habitat for a collection of creatures, including “In the House,” “On the Farm,” and “On the Savanna.” The verso features a full-page illustration of the landscape with the animals and their homes in their context, each labeled with a short caption containing a clue as to where the animal makes its home. The recto holds six rectangular windows with the featured animals (a bee, a sparrow, an ant, and three more on the “In the Garden” page) with square, easy-to-move sliding panels that reveal their homes (a “hive”—sadly, what’s depicted is not a beehive but a wasps’ nest—a “birdhouse,” and an “anthill leading to underground home,” respectively) with a swipe to the left. Kiko’s art is eye-catching and flat, employing a soft but fully saturated color palette. There are some nice vocabulary-building opportunities with “rabbit hutch” and the guinea fowl’s “shrub,” but the project misses an opportunity to introduce youngsters to the eagle’s eyrie, instead opting for “nest.”
Little fingers may enjoy sliding the panels more than discovering the answers underneath. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-2-40800-796-6
Page Count: 14
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
