This book is stuffed with fascinating information, but its presentation reinforces an us-versus-them mentality, with Europe...
The details of life in ancient Greece are presented as a travel guide for visitors from the future.
After prefaces, introductions, charts, and warnings, readers are welcomed to Athens and told that “ancient Greece is the birthplace of everything,” a nakedly Eurocentric claim that sets the book’s tone and is repeated throughout. Next, a visit to Sparta is presented as a risky experience for time travelers, with the gruesome details of how Spartans were groomed to become “the best soldiers in the world.” In the Battle of Thermopylae, time travelers are invited to “have the honor of fighting for a glorious cause,” to defend Greek civilization against the Persians, who are pictured as dark-skinned and sinister Middle Easterners. In the Battle of Salamis, “Xerxes is Beaten Like a Persian Carpet,” as the subheading blares. Art, philosophy, and architecture characterize the golden age of Greece. In two chapters on Alexander the Great and his “Greek Conquest” (a chapter heading), the text’s irreverence reaches a new low: The daughter of King Darius of Persia “isn’t too pleased to marry her father’s killer, but then, it’s so hard to find a good husband these days.” Apparently, the world owes nearly every positive advancement to ancient Greece; slavery, conquest, and oppression of women are just part of the package.
This book is stuffed with fascinating information, but its presentation reinforces an us-versus-them mentality, with Europe on top. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-48027-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.
In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.
The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
A thorough and comprehensive treatment of the subject.
This guide to the various components of researching family history provides helpful hints for young genealogists.
Interest in family research continues across ages, and this volume explores all aspects in great detail. It begins by pointing out that all humankind began in the same place—eastern Africa—and shares what scholars believe about how various groups spread throughout the world. From then on, personal genealogy is approached as a mystery to be solved, a strategy designed to engage its target audience. The recognition that there are many types of families is a critical part of the text. All kinds of threads are explored, from documentary evidence to family stories, with suggestions on how to evaluate them. Each topic is fully described. For example, in addition to addressing how to use census data, the book discusses the origins of the census and the parts that are relevant to family research. The section on DNA is brief but gives scientific perspective. Very little is left to chance, including how to store, preserve, and retrieve the accumulated data. The narrative is inviting and lively in tone, but it doesn’t shy away from potential difficulties. It is richly illustrated in full color with sidebars to provide additional information, though some pages feel too full to digest. Diversity is woven throughout the text, illustrations, sidebars, and graphics.
A thorough and comprehensive treatment of the subject. (glossary, further resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 17, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2983-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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