Jones catches the beauty of fair trade in the way it strengthens morale and human dignity for all those engaged, and she...
“Fair trade is not about spending more money or buying more stuff. It’s about bringing justice to people around the world.” Fair enough.
And as readers take Jones’ tour through the lands of fair trade and its role in social justice, they learn where things come from and go to. The story of fair trade is quite buoyant, because it is not just a pipe dream. As Jones notes in one of the numerous, captivating factoids that pepper the margins of the book, “fair trade products are now sold in more than 120 countries.” Numerous stock photographs bring a snappy immediacy to the story, as do Jones’ anecdotes of her own experiences with fair trade. Jones does a particularly good job bringing individuals to the fore so that readers can both identify with them and learn how these people can band together with other small producers into cooperatives to become a market force. “Ninety percent of the world’s cocoa is grown on small family farms by about six million farmers,” so it doesn’t take a math genius to appreciate that buying fair trade chocolate benefits a lot of people. Jones also presents a handful of ways that kids can encourage fair trade awareness.
Jones catches the beauty of fair trade in the way it strengthens morale and human dignity for all those engaged, and she provides a grounded (and painless) introduction to world geography. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1043-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Go adventuring with a better guide.
Find something to do in every state in the U.S.A.!
This guide highlights a location of interest within each of the states, therefore excluding Washington, D.C., and the territories. Trivia about each location is scattered across crisply rendered landscapes that background each state’s double-page spread while diminutive, diverse characters populate the scenes. Befitting the title, one “adventure” is presented per state, such as shrimping in Louisiana’s bayous, snowshoeing in Connecticut, or celebrating the Fourth of July in Boston. While some are stereotypical gimmes (surfing in California), others have the virtue of novelty, at least for this audience, such as viewing the sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Within this thematic unity, some details go astray, and readers may find themselves searching in vain for animals mentioned. The trivia is plentiful but may be misleading, vague, or incorrect. Information about the Native American peoples of the area is often included, but its brevity—especially regarding sacred locations—means readers are floundering without sufficient context. The same is true for many of the facts that relate directly to expansion and colonialism, such as the unexplained near extinction of bison. Describing the genealogical oral history of South Carolina’s Gullah community as “spin[ning] tales” is equally brusque and offensive. The book tries to do a lot, but it is more style than substance, which may leave readers bored, confused, slightly annoyed—or all three. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12.2-by-20.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.)
Go adventuring with a better guide. (tips on local adventuring, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5445-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
In brief chapters, abundantly illustrated with amusing cartoons and photographs, the author explores common fears shared by...
Murphy, the author of Why Is Snot Green? (2009), tackles another high-interest subject in this entertaining look at fears and phobias.
In brief chapters, abundantly illustrated with amusing cartoons and photographs, the author explores common fears shared by people from all walks of life: wild animals, snakes and insects, natural disasters, dentists and doctors, darkness, death, drowning, heights, ghosts, monsters in closets and more. He explains the differences between innate and learned fears and between fears and phobias, also discussing their biological and psychological dimensions. After describing a particular fear, he follows with a discussion of how grounded in reality that fear is and explains the likelihood of that fear becoming a reality. "The odds of dying in a sandstorm or snowstorm are, for most people, very low… [They] are dangerous, but fairly predictable." As in his other books, Murphy includes enough gross details to keep readers engaged (some foodborne microorganisms "make us vomit and poo explosively") but always stays centered on science ("E. coli… is usually a harmless bacterium").Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-633-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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