Earth science engagingly presented for middle-grade readers.
An appreciative introduction to the planet we call home.
Chapter by chapter the author, a Dutch writer of nonfiction books for young readers, covers the Earth’s origins, its position in the solar system, its composition (various forms of rock, water, and air), and its ever growing number of human occupants. Via Watkinson’s translation, he explains complex concepts in relatively simple words, using familiar examples. The layers of the Earth’s rock are compared to the layers of a “mega club sandwich” (amusingly illustrated by Panders), for instance. He picks facts that young readers are likely to appreciate and perhaps retain. He explains climate change clearly, bringing it home with sample news headlines from Sept. 8, 2106, and offers some sensible suggestions that readers can personally effect to slow the process. He also suggests ways to survive extreme weather events: hurricanes, tornadoes, landslides, floods, droughts, and forest fires. He describes the movement of human beings from the first tribes to leave their home valley through the eventual population of every continent to the exploration and mapping of the world, mostly by Europeans—the publisher reminds readers that many of these explorers were really conquerors of peoples already living in the places they found. While any survey of earth science will include some oversimplifications, this information seems reasonably accurate. The translation is very smooth, and the facts are extensively footnoted. There is no index.
Earth science engagingly presented for middle-grade readers. (notes) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: April 9, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58270-656-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Beyond Words/Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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