Not exactly seamless but spooky fun nonetheless.
Colored filters transform 10 haunted world sites from “Earthly” to “Supernatural.”
As in earlier outings from the Milan-based design collective Carnovsky (Illuminatlas, 2018, etc.), a chromatic layering technique makes the illustrations semiabstract tangles to the naked eye. They become three different scenes when viewed through the small squares of green, red, and cyan acetate provided. Though the gimmick doesn’t work all that well—there is considerable spillover from the red scene (which shows actual people and artifacts) into the green (buildings and architectural details), and the cyan collage of ghosts and horrors is murky even in very bright light—still, it does add distinct atmosphere to the mix of history and mystery at each stop, from the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to San Juan Chamula Cemetery in Mexico’s Chiapas highlands and Bhangarh Fort in Rajasthan. The assorted images assembled in each superimposed picture are laid out and identified individually on subsequent pages with commentary that varies from eerie to tongue in cheek. Though Rasputin is misplaced in the “Supernatural” category and a claim that Howard Carter’s ghost haunts the Great Pyramid at Giza seems to be an invention, readers will find chills and chuckles alike, whether meeting the Black Forest’s “badly behaved monks and pagan witches” or paying a visit to Dracula’s Bran Castle, where “centuries of spirits linger, waiting to tell their tales of medieval megalomaniacs, bloodthirsty ghouls, heartbroken queens and socialist revolutionaries.”
Not exactly seamless but spooky fun nonetheless. (Informational novelty. 7-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-547-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For a preteen who enjoys writing her thoughts and a mom whose relationship with her daughter is already good, this...
A “How-to-Say-It” package about preteen physical, emotional, and social concerns for mothers and their daughters.
The period between childhood and adulthood can be challenging to navigate. This boxed set includes two 48-page paperbacks, one for mom and one for her daughter, and a much longer blank journal with writing prompts for the two to share. They follow the pediatrician/author’s highly successful titles about girls’ changing bodies and feelings and a similar but preteen-directed journal some users have chosen to share with parents. Topics covered include personal concerns (hygiene, nutrition, exercise, sleep, safety, body changes, periods, beauty, clothing, eating disorders) and relations with the outside world of family, friends, the Internet, romance, and time management. Each double-page spread addresses a separate topic and includes “how to say it” prompts. There are conversation starters, talking tips, and sensible suggestions about negotiating the social-media world, including a sample family contract. Appealing cartoon illustrations show a range of girls and mother-daughter pairs who are clearly communicating. The “completely private” journal has color-coded pages to indicate mother, daughter, and joint entries, as well as similarly coded ribbons to mark pages. The pages labeled “TOP SECRET” seem to contradict the open approach.
For a preteen who enjoys writing her thoughts and a mom whose relationship with her daughter is already good, this well-meant offering might help ease the pair through a difficult time. (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-60958-978-3
Page Count: 92
Publisher: American Girl
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
A pure turkey shoot, though “National Geographic wants you to know what explorers know, what makes them successful.” That...
A debatable selection of items to master before you grow up—meaning, perhaps, freshman year of high school.
This collection is a strictly hit-or-miss affair from a variety of angles: good point, good explanation; good point, bad explanation; pointless point, explanation irrelevant. Taking everything from personal attitude to skills to knowledge into account, sometimes the item and the accompanying instructions are smack on: how to field criticism, do your laundry, learn to say no (“Don’t offer too much explanation” and “You can always say ‘thanks for asking’ ”); what to do if someone is choking (best tip here: “take a first aid or CPR course”); how to make your bed and load a dishwasher and defeat a mosquito bite (not all at once). But advice like “balance is something you can improve upon with practice” or “your journal is completely up to you” is meaningless, as, arguably, are the quaint tips on map-reading and how to write a check (why not how to treat a black mamba bite or, maybe, raise a roof beam, which are just about as likely to arise?), and then there is the questionable: “If you are biting your nails when you’re watching TV, try chewing gum.”
A pure turkey shoot, though “National Geographic wants you to know what explorers know, what makes them successful.” That must have been educational TV and sugarless gum. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2316-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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