While enjoyable to browse, these doll instructions are most likely to thwart all but the most determined of crafters.
A guidebook to making simple dolls and accessories sounds like a fine idea, as long as the supplies are readily available and the crafts are reasonably achievable.
This effort excels at offering crafts that require inexpensive supplies that many young crafters might have access to, including old T-shirts, bits and pieces of felt, inexpensive paints, buttons, needles, and thread. The skills required to create the various dolls, small stuffed animals, doll clothing, and houses vary widely. Some of the crafts involve little more than wrapping yarn around pipe cleaners and adding a bead head. Other crafts, such as a simple-appearing stuffed “puppy dog”; a button-up coat; a painted cloth doll that must be stitched, turned right side out, and stuffed; and doll shoes with craft-foam soles and stitched-on felt tops, involve a considerable amount of careful sewing. Lists of supplies for each project are included, and patterns and directions are clear, but few of the projects state the skill level needed. Some do include the caveat “Adult supervision needed.” The variety is wide, including a voodoo doll, a zombie, a pocket gnome, and gingerbread cookies. Sidebars offer additional information on the history of dolls and their places in some cultures.
While enjoyable to browse, these doll instructions are most likely to thwart all but the most determined of crafters. (Nonfiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61373-778-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Similar tours abound, but a well-informed chaperone gives this one an added boost. .
With a genial BBC science educator as guide, a good gander round our stellar neighborhood, from Earth to Oort cloud.
Promising to leave “no question unanswered and no meteorite unturned,” the space-suited co-host of the long-running The Sky at Night leads readers past the sun, planets, moons, and other major members of our local “gravity gang.” She pauses to point out the International Space Station and the ring of “space junk” around Earth, describe the missions of select historical space probes, and marvel at must-see high spots like the rings of Saturn and the 20-km-high cliff Verona Rupes on Uranus’ moon Miranda. Along the way she also explains how orbits and lunar phases work, speculates about other places where life (as we know it) may be possible, discusses a theorized “Planet Nine” that may be out there somewhere, and casts a final glance at the composition of interstellar space. Her commentary, presented in lozenge-shaped bubbles, is scattered over mixes of photos and digital renderings so seamlessly blended that the difference between observable features and speculative ones is sometimes lost in the shuffle. Still, the substantial factual payload, ably abetted by a closing “ship’s database” that includes a largely female gallery of astronomers and other “space people,” is lightened by the author/narrator’s chatty style.
Similar tours abound, but a well-informed chaperone gives this one an added boost. . (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68464-064-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
A cute angle any way you slice it.
Why use pie charts to demonstrate basic principles of geometry when actual pies will do?
In her equally scrumptious follow-up to Geology Is a Piece of Cake (2017), Coppens once again keeps the focus on the food—linking introductions to seven fundamental concepts of geometry, including “Symmetry,” “Tessellations,” and “Angles,” by quickly turning each topic pie-ward: “How does rotational symmetry relate to pie?” “How do polygons relate to pie?” “How does Pi (π) relate to pie?” The illustrations offer a similarly enlightening (not to mention mouthwatering) mix of simple diagrams and color photos (most by the author herself) of beautifully decorated pies, sliced or whole as required for demonstrative purposes. Clear, simple line diagrams complement these photos and ably help to integrate the content. A discussion of right, complementary, acute, and obtuse angles (and more) yields explorations of both equitable slicing and relative appetite size. Recipes? Of course…eight in all, ranging from appetizer-sized samosas and a savory quiche to a butterscotch pie and a lattice-topped apple masterpiece (demonstrating parallel and perpendicular lines, natch). All come with detailed instructions, though for all but the final array of miniature berry pies, pre-made dough or crusts are recommended. The author closes with 20 challenging review questions (about geometry, but cast in pie-centric language) and a final photo gallery labeled “Just Desserts” to drool over.
A cute angle any way you slice it. (Glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-943431-52-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tumblehome Learning
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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