A sugary spill of facts, fads, and popular fancies.
A lively history of popular alternatives to plain tap water.
Pouring out a companion to There’s No Ham in Hamburgers (2021), Zachman chronicles how the “thirst for new beverages” has “influenced science, medicine, history, and culture, and vice versa.” So, though leaving wines, spirits, and beer out of the mix (aside from brief mentions) rather limits her purview, she still manages to dip into a broad range of fields in describing the spread of tea, coffee, and numerous nostrums and soft drinks like Coca-Cola with (at least initially) psychoactive ingredients, considering the supposed health benefits of mineral waters and the real hazards of unclean fresh water and lead plumbing, offering highlights in the quest for ways of preserving animal milk, and delving into the research behind sports drinks like Gatorade and Red Bull…not to mention inventions from tea bags to juice pouches and innovators like Jacob Schweppe (“Father of the Soft Drink Industry”). The author also slips in nutritional notes and DIY experiments or demonstrations, including a 19th-century recipe for root beer that requires, tellingly, 5 pounds of sugar. Donnelly illustrates Zachman’s flow of colorful (occasionally revolting) historical anecdotes with fanciful cartoon images featuring merchants, scientists, and drinkers of diverse era and race.
A sugary spill of facts, fads, and popular fancies. (source notes, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: July 18, 2023
ISBN: 9780762481323
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Logically pointing out that the American cowboy archetype didn’t spring up from nowhere, Sandler, author of Cowboys (1994) and other volumes in the superficial, if luxuriously illustrated, “Library of Congress Book” series, looks back over 400 years of cattle tending in North America. His coverage ranges from the livestock carried on Columbus’s second voyage to today’s herding-by-helicopter operations. Here, too, the generous array of dramatic early prints, paintings, and photos are more likely to capture readers’ imaginations than the generality-ridden text. But among his vague comments about the characters, values, and culture passed by Mexican vaqueros to later arrivals from the Eastern US, Sadler intersperses nods to the gauchos, llaneros, and other South American “cowmen,” plus the paniolos of Hawaii, and the renowned African-American cowboys. He also decries the role film and popular literature have played in suppressing the vaqueros’ place in the history of the American West. He tackles an uncommon topic, and will broaden the historical perspective of many young cowboy fans, but his glance at modern vaqueros seems to stop at this country’s borders. Young readers will get a far more detailed, vivid picture of vaquero life and work from the cowboy classics in his annotated bibliography. (Notes, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8050-6019-7
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
