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THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT

Name: THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT
Author: Margaret Peot
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4872-2

THINGS THAT SHINE, FLASH, AND GLOW

by Margaret Peot ; illustrated by Margaret Peot ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 6, 2022

Illuminating, even literally—but better regarded as a showcase for the artist than a full topical study.

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A tally of natural and manufactured light sources, all atmospherically depicted.

With visual effects ranging from ghostly to dazzling, Peot opens with a glow-in-the-dark crystal jellyfish on the cover, then goes on to depict lightning and fireworks, fireflies, fungi, certain deep sea squid, and several other sources of luminosity, all shining in subtle blends of color against deep black backgrounds. Parsimonious when it comes to word count but not vocabulary, she specifically names each—“Mycena singeri (meye-SEE-nuh sin-JE-ree) gleam. // Clusterwink snails blink. // Dinoflagellates (DEYE-noh-fla-juh-litz) sparkle”—and in closing notes adds details and definitions to go with lists of audience-appropriate books and websites. “Stars twinkle” in a final spangled scene, but Peot never explains why, nor do light-shedding minerals, LEDs, or lava (among many other light sources) make the cut…so student readers will find the broader catalog in Walter Wick’s A Ray of Light (2019) helpful. Still, the art is infused with a contagious sense of wonder, and even younger audiences will benefit from the exposure to scientific nomenclature. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Illuminating, even literally—but better regarded as a showcase for the artist than a full topical study. (index) (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Dec. 6, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4872-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
CROW MADE A FRIEND
by Margaret Peot ; illustrated by Margaret Peot

- BOOK REVIEW
INKBLOT
by Margaret Peot & illustrated by Margaret Peot

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NEW YORK CITY ABC

From the Larry Gets Lost series

by John Skewes ; illustrated by John Skewes ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 7, 2018

Larry could use a better compass.

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As Larry Gets Lost again per series formula, the dog and his boy, Pete, look for alphabet letters and explore New York City.

The sights they take in are sometimes specific and sometimes generic, but they are mostly iconic: “C is for Central Park and the Chrysler building,” while “D is for deli.” “W is for Wall Street,” and “Y is for Yankee Stadium” exemplify New York City, but “I is for ice cream” seems a bit of a stretch. Several entries will require some context for many readers, such as “A is for art” (a lineup of Warhol soup cans at the Museum of Modern Art); “H is for the High Line”; and “V is for the Village” (Greenwich Village, that is). In Skewes’ retro-styled illustrations, Pete is a white boy who looks a bit like Elroy Jetson, with hair puffing out from beneath the brim of a baseball cap, and Larry is similarly stylized. The mostly silhouetted background figures that occasionally appear do nothing to convey the city’s tremendous cultural diversity. The pages are largely just one- or two-color designs in a sophisticated palette that occasionally works against meaning: The blue-on-blue “N is for neon at night” (in Times Square) is devoid of neon. The square size makes the pages feel cramped. NY Is for New York, by Paul Thurlby (2017), does much the same thing and is far more attractive.

Larry could use a better compass. (Picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-63217-167-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch

Review Posted Online: April 15, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
LARRY GETS LOST IN THE LIBRARY
by Eric Ode ; illustrated by John Skewes

- BOOK REVIEW
A TICKET TO THE PENNANT
by Mark Holtzen ; illustrated by John Skewes

- BOOK REVIEW
LARRY GETS LOST IN WASHINGTON, DC
by John Skewes ; Andrew Fox ; illustrated by John Skewes

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MOTHER EARTH'S LULLABY

A SONG FOR ENDANGERED ANIMALS

by Terry Pierce ; illustrated by Carol Heyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 16, 2018

With its undistinguished poetry but warm feelings and appealing paintings, this is an additional choice for some home...

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Snuggling families, whether human or animal, are comforting and reassuring presences at bedtime.

Bookended by sentimentalized portraits of a white mother and two small white children in their pajamas, the verse starts off with exalted language: “When Mother Earth bids goodnight, / she casts her shafts of silver light. / She says: ‘Goodnight, my precious ones.’ / Nature’s song has just begun.” The scene switches to the natural world and successive double-page spreads are filled with lush, vibrantly colored paintings that usually show a parent animal and its young one(s) at night in their environment. Rhyming couplets describe each scene, not always smoothly: “Nene young quieting, / get warm below their mama’s wing,” reads the text as the illustration presents goslings and their mother among hibiscus blooms. The animal paintings are realistic and engaging, but there is no sense of accurate scale. The animals included are threatened or endangered by issues including human encroachment, climate change, and animal predators. These are described briefly in the backmatter. There is an unfortunate editorial mistake; a description of a red-tailed Amazon parrot has been substituted for the toucan pictured in the primary text. The book ends with an upbeat page, inexplicably lacking illustrations but detailing a few animals whose numbers have recently rebounded. There is no map and only one web resource.

With its undistinguished poetry but warm feelings and appealing paintings, this is an additional choice for some home libraries. (Informational picture book. 5-7)