A welcome, kid-friendly addition to the growing selection of popular science on the microbiome.
Germs are usually seen as the bad guys, but this book aims to introduce middle graders to the many good germs that make up the microbiome and help your body work.
Reminiscent of the manga series Cells at Work, Kim, Kwon, and Kim’s work uses an anthropomorphic gut bacterium as the device to take readers on a tour of the body of a young girl, the “wonderful five-star hotel” the bacterium calls home and to whom it addresses its narrative. Along the way readers learn about digestion and the ways bacteria help with the process, complete with plenty of the potty humor we would not have were it not for our body’s bacterial colonizers. Beyond helping with digestion, bacteria are also shown helping our immune system ward off bad-germ “invaders”; antibiotics can help too, but the bacterium guide warns not to use them unless needed. Though the text refers to the body as a “hotel” throughout, rather disappointingly it doesn’t fully develop that metaphor. There are a few minor issues on the science; it ascribes flu symptoms to the common cold, for instance. This may be partly due to the translation from Korean, but these finer points are largely inconsequential to the intended audience. In the cartoon illustrations, the microbial protagonist looks like a yellow capsule with googly eyes, a few straggles of hair, and several spindly legs. The frequent diagrams and cross sections add both whimsy and informational content. The “hotel” presents White.
A welcome, kid-friendly addition to the growing selection of popular science on the microbiome. (glossary, selected sources) (Nonfiction. 6-12)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-913750-16-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: What on Earth!
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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