An honest, inspiring STEM-focused story starring an incredibly relatable future scientist.
A science fair can bring out the best in us…and the worst.
Miles Lewis, a smart aspiring scientist, considers this year’s science fair a second chance. Since his electrical switch didn’t get him to the regional competition last year, he vows to create a winner this year. When his teacher allows the students to work in groups, Miles chooses to work with Jada, but the team expands as their friends join. As they plan, Miles realizes how hard it can be to collaborate with others. It gets tougher when his cousin Cameron, who made it to the regional competition last year, visits and Miles’ team likes Cam’s scientific ideas more than his. Although Miles knows that Cam is adjusting to his parents’ separation, he struggles with jealousy of Cam. The team’s Marvelous Marble Grand Prix, a marble racetrack that illustrates how energy works, teaches Miles a lot about himself and how to be a better friend, cousin, and team member. This is a warm, inviting tale with a realistically flawed protagonist whom many readers will see themselves in. Miles’ close-knit family offers support throughout: Momma tells him not to be so hard on himself; Nana cooks and gardens with him; and Daddy, a professor who teaches Black history, exhorts him to persist—a strong message that will resonate with readers. Spencer’s illustrations depict a loving Black family whose members respect one another.
An honest, inspiring STEM-focused story starring an incredibly relatable future scientist. (facts about five Black scientists) (Chapter book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-38353-7
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
“It’s time to head back home,” the narrator concludes. “You’ve touched the Earth in so many ways.” Who knew it would be so...
A pro bono Twinkie of a book invites readers to fly off in a magic plane to bring clean water to our planet’s oceans, deserts, and brown children.
Following a confusingly phrased suggestion beneath a soft-focus world map to “touch the Earth. Now touch where you live,” a shake of the volume transforms it into a plane with eyes and feathered wings that flies with the press of a flat, gray “button” painted onto the page. Pressing like buttons along the journey releases a gush of fresh water from the ground—and later, illogically, provides a filtration device that changes water “from yucky to clean”—for thirsty groups of smiling, brown-skinned people. At other stops, a tap on the button will “help irrigate the desert,” and touching floating bottles and other debris in the ocean supposedly makes it all disappear so the fish can return. The 20 children Coh places on a globe toward the end are varied of skin tone, but three of the four young saviors she plants in the flier’s cockpit as audience stand-ins are white. The closing poem isn’t so openly parochial, though it seldom rises above vague feel-good sentiments: “Love the Earth, the moon and sun. / All the children can be one.”
“It’s time to head back home,” the narrator concludes. “You’ve touched the Earth in so many ways.” Who knew it would be so easy to clean the place up and give everyone a drink? (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5107-2083-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Readers (and listeners) will think that this book is the bee’s knees.
Children will be buzzing to learn more about honeybees after reading this story.
Hall takes her readers on a sunny romp through a springtime pasture abuzz with friendly honeybees in this bright and cheerful picture book. Hall’s rhyme scheme is inviting and mirrors the staccato sounds of a bee buzzing. At times, however, meaning seems to take a back seat to the rhyme. The bees are suggested to “tap” while flying, a noise that adult readers might have trouble explaining to curious listeners. Later, the “hill” the bees return to may elicit further questions, as this point is not addressed textually or visually. Minor quibbles aside, the vocabulary is on-point as the bees demonstrate the various stages of nectar collection and honey creation. Arsenault’s illustrations, a combination of ink, gouache, graphite, and colored pencil, are energetic and cheerful. Extra points should be awarded for properly illustrating a natural honeybee hive (as opposed to the often depicted wasp nest). The expressive bees are also well-done. Their faces are welcoming, but their sharp noses hint at the stingers that may be lurking behind them. Hall’s ending note to readers will be appreciated by adults but will require their interpretation to be accessible to children. A sensible choice for read-alouds and STEAM programs.
Readers (and listeners) will think that this book is the bee’s knees. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4814-6997-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
© 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.
