Let the treasure hunting begin! (Nonfiction. 7-12)
There is treasure all around, and Walsh gives pointers on how to find it.
However it’s defined—pirates’ gold; buried metal discovered with a metal detector; geocaches or letterboxes; rocks, minerals and gems; or sea glass, fossils or meteorites—this book has solid advice on how to find it. Six chapters address each of these treasures in turn, discussing how to find them, equipment needed, methodologies, and some safety guidelines and codes of conduct. Some history is thrown in throughout, and a scattering of personal stories and interviews adds a personal touch. While Walsh states that the “best treasure hunters work from feelings of intuition, which means that you just know something without really knowing why,” she also points kids to local resources for finding treasures that don’t rely on intuition, and a bibliography at the end provides other informational sources to consult. While the text often highlights the state of Maine, the ideas and advice presented could apply in almost any area. Vocabulary is well-defined within the text, and full-color photos throughout show kids actively engaged in treasure hunting, their tools and many of the finds that are possible.
Let the treasure hunting begin! (Nonfiction. 7-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60893-278-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Down East Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
Still, there is a bedrock of toponymic glory here, certainly enough to make some readers fall in love with geography.
You don’t have to be a geographer (or a toponymist, to get really specific) to take pleasure in odd place names, and there are far too few gazetteers out there for a new one to come amiss.
Herman’s contribution, then, is welcome, despite its weaknesses. First the strengths: Herman proceeds alphabetically by state, focusing on one curious place name and providing an explanation of its origin (or multiple possible explanations). Another dozen or so humorous place names are noted (with a few given very brief expository treatment), and a number of unusual state facts are delivered. Well and good, but this material, which can easily stand on its own, is bedeviled by a near-desperate striving for laughs. Not content to let the strange place names pull their comic weight, Herman douses them with corniness and puns and running jokes and enough exclamation marks to curl a Monkey’s Eyebrow (that’s in Kentucky). Another weakness is the artwork. Maps are a hotbed for artistic expression, but—except for the cover, which allows for color—Goldman’s maps feel anemic (the place names under discussion are not located on her state maps), scratchy and overly whimsical, with accompanying line drawings that are arbitrary or in anxiously eccentric pursuit of yet more mirth.
Still, there is a bedrock of toponymic glory here, certainly enough to make some readers fall in love with geography. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-935279-79-2
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though a bit of a patchwork with all the visual styles on display, this gathering of old favorites in their full, original...
Color and silhouette illustrations first seen in editions 50 to 150 years ago add an antique glaze to 27 stories newly translated from the Brothers Grimm’s final and, as the editor puts it, “most child-friendly” versions.
Not to say that there aren’t still plenty of violent and gruesome bits—from the ugly fates of Cinderella’s stepsisters to the decapitated horse in “Goose Girl.” With only rare exceptions, like the Brave Little Tailor, who swats flies that are “bugging him out of his mind,” the language in these unabridged versions remains classically formal, more grand than intimate and conveying in the lighter stories more wit than laugh-out-loud humor. The art samples work from 27 illustrators, nearly all of whom were European, and likewise presents a range of elaborately stylized Princes, graceful Maidens, anthropomorphic animals and comical magical creatures in, usually, court or period costume. Printed in double columns of small type, the collection is designed for adult readers to read or read aloud, and for the grown-ups Daniel also includes analytical introductions, an opening appreciation of the Grimms’ work as “the DNA of all fairy-tale scholarship,” and long biographical notes on the illustrators. As a piece of bookmaking, it harkens back to more extravagant times, with a gold-stamped, purple cloth cover, many gilt pages, elaborate display type and scrollwork and two bound-in silk ribbons to act as bookmarks.
Though a bit of a patchwork with all the visual styles on display, this gathering of old favorites in their full, original forms collected in a lovely package should please fairy-tale collectors and bibliophiles alike. (translator’s and historical notes, index) (Fairy tales. 7-11, adult)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-3-8365-2672-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Taschen
Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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