Intriguing encouragement to consider the intersection of mathematics and nature.
Looking outside, what kinds of patterns can you see?
Psychotherapist Perron debuts with this presentation of a variety of patterns from the natural world. Intriguing photographs from a variety of stock sources reveal designs in nature. These are further described in rhyming couplets (in an AABB pattern, pointed out in an afterword) and explanatory text boxes. Spread by spread, Perron covers leaf veins, ridges and valleys, sand dunes, corals, wave ripples, sea foam, earth layers, basalt columns, snowflakes, mud cracks, and the spiraling curves of plants and animals. The last line of each stanza begins with “patterns, patterns,” providing a nice repetition for reading aloud. The text boxes offer additional information for curious readers, things like why the spacing of valleys seems consistent and how erosion and sediment buildup can change a river’s path. While the book is lovely to look at, it doesn’t convey the same sense of wonder and connection that the more mathematically focused titles by Sarah C. and Richard P. Campbell (Growing Patterns, 2010; Mysterious Patterns, 2014) did. Fractals, tessellation, and the Fibonacci sequence are named but not explained. The choice and arrangement of topics seems random. But the invitation to look more closely at the natural world is clear and welcome. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Intriguing encouragement to consider the intersection of mathematics and nature. (activity, glossary, further reading, websites) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781728460420
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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