A playful approach can’t compensate for all the loose screws in the informational payload.
A basic tour of the solar system and beyond, illustrated with a blend of stock photos and cartoons.
It’s hard to tell whether to blame the Dutch author or the uncredited translator, but the narrative is terminally afflicted with errors and ungainly phrasing, beginning with an observation that there “are several balls floating in space. We call them planets.” They continue past specious claims that lunar phases are caused when the Earth gets in between the moon and the sun, that the night side of Mercury is “burning hot,” that “all the stars and planets were shaped” only a million years after the Big Bang, and that Apollo 2 was the first moon landing (actually, that would be Apollo 11). Also, along with arbitrarily doodling cartoon stars or clouds amid real ones and adding the odd caribou or astronaut to photographed scenes, Mack implies in a caption that a photo of the Andromeda galaxy is the Milky Way and that a spacesuited figure with an “E. Aldrin” nametag is Neil Armstrong. (Collaged into the latter photograph is an Apollo 11 mission patch, which will mightily confuse readers who’ve read about the Apollo 2 landing on the previous, facing page.)
A playful approach can’t compensate for all the loose screws in the informational payload. (Nonfiction. 7-9)Pub Date: July 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-60537-381-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Clavis
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.
Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.
Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543181
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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