An informative and entertaining title for aspiring young scientists.
An introduction to the brilliant African-American astrophysicist who, from an early age, found his passion in the skies.
This biography tells of Tyson’s childhood in the Bronx, where he walked dogs to earn money for his first big telescope, through which he viewed the stars from the rooftop of his apartment building, the aptly named Skyview. Mistaking the telescope for a rifle, neighbors often called the police, but Tyson would win the cops over by showing them the stars or his favorite planet, Saturn. The nearby Hayden Planetarium became an important educational space for Tyson, opening up opportunities such as an ocean-liner trip to the northwest African coast with 2,000 scientists to observe a solar eclipse when he was just 14. Attending the Bronx High School of Science, Tyson excelled in science but also in dance and wrestling. After attending Harvard, he returned home to work at Hayden Planetarium, the place where he first glimpsed the stars. Along with other astrophysicists, Tyson remapped the solar system, reclassifying Pluto as a dwarf planet. While the authors’ informative, enthusiastic telling keeps readers interested in Tyson’s nerdy and passionate pursuit of deeper knowledge about all things celestial, the illustrations border on caricature at times and, perhaps as a result, create many inconsistencies in Tyson’s appearance. The recurring starry backgrounds, however, successfully emphasize the importance of stars in Tyson’s life.
An informative and entertaining title for aspiring young scientists. (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-399-55024-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
PROFILES
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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