An almost savory assemblage that’s spoiled by too many stale ingredients.
A view of our planet and our place on it in terms of the four classical elements: earth, air, fire, and water.
It’s not a very strong conceit—showing strain almost immediately as the “Earth” section begins with the observation that 30 percent of our “rocky” home is actually oxygen—but for each of the four elements the author offers 29 double-page–spread introductions to a wide array of at least indirectly related topics. These range from surveys of the Earth’s hot interior and changing surface to the origins of life and of such technological wonders as cast-iron stoves as well as the golden ages both of exploration and of piracy, types of waterfalls, major historical fires, and what it might be like to live underwater. The authors add crunchy bits to this browser’s banquet by giving Gustav Whitehead pride of place over the Wright brothers as the first to fly, including the recently discovered Hamza (which flows more than two miles beneath the Amazon) in their tally of big rivers, and other surprises. Still, along with underseasoned elements including a reference to “the freezing part of the outer solar system” and a timeline point quaintly labeled “Man evolves,” Brake’s claim that in the wake of Columbus “people who’d never met due to being separated by the seas could now interact just as we all do today!” introduces, to say the least, a historically disingenuous sour note. Likewise less-than-palatable are Kearney’s cartoon renditions of pirates, ancient and prehistoric people, and modern figures as, with only rare exceptions (and those mostly in the occasional photos), white—one notable exception is a group of Navajo fire dancers portrayed as identical brown lads in loincloths.
An almost savory assemblage that’s spoiled by too many stale ingredients. (index, annotated bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Nov. 21, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78701-278-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
This German import is an unsystematic jumble—but tailor-made for dipping and flipping.
From airplanes to zippers, a gallery of ubiquitous gadgets, products, and basic discoveries.
In an apparently arbitrarily ordered assortment of one- to three-page entries, Ameri-Siemens recaps around three dozen stories of invention, from Gutenberg’s printing press (1440) to the World Wide Web (1989). Though the inventors introduced are predominantly White, male, and Eurocentric, her choices include nods to a few African Americans such as Garrett Morgan (hair-straightening cream, automatic traffic light) and Thomas J. Martin (a type of fire extinguisher). White women spotlighted include Nancy Johnson (ice cream maker) and Jeanne Villepreux (glass aquarium) and, in an entry misleadingly titled “Computer,” Ada Lovelace, Henrietta Swan Leavitt, and Grace Hopper. Neglecting to provide any sources or evidence, she also makes questionable claims that, for instance, the Brothers Grimm were the first to record oral folktales in print and—hilariously—the Millennium Falcon’s top speed is only half again the speed of light. Showing the same hand wave–y spirit, Thorns presents an unidentified trio of Black women presumably meant to represent the “computers” of NASA rather than the much earlier ones at Harvard that the author mentions. Still, readers will likely look in vain through similar chronicles of invention to find the origins of, say, ramen noodles, soccer boots, toothpaste, or carbonated beverages.
This German import is an unsystematic jumble—but tailor-made for dipping and flipping. (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-3-89955-133-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Little Gestalten
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Rich in pointers but too reasonable to be a mind-changer.
An encouraging, eloquently argued call to action.
Though rightly suggesting that “climate crisis” is a more apt term than “climate change,” Harman delivers an overview that is measured rather than urgent, focused more on general talking points than specific actions. Keeping “sciencey” terms to a minimum, she lays out general causes—mostly unrestrained use of fossil fuels and wanting “too much stuff”—and current and potential effects of human-engendered changes, including the scary prospect of unpredictable, uncontrollable climactic “feedback loops.” She then launches into a series of fictive exchanges between activist and reactionary talking heads on “problems” including corporate greed (“The ‘Just one more cookie’ problem”), conflicts between poor and rich nations (“That’s not fair!” and “Smelt it, dealt it”), and hostile responses to being told what to do (“Goody-two-shoes”). Acknowledging that “climate justice” is “a marathon, not a sprint,” she finishes up in a section brashly titled “The Solutions” by urging concerned readers to get off the stick but (savvy advice) not to have unrealistic expectations of either themselves or others. Her concluding promise that “we can stop climate change” runs counter to scientific assessments that the best we can do is slow it, however. Along with being diverse in age, race, and, to some extent, dress, the dozens of humans in Lozano’s cartoon illustrations include figures in wheelchairs and a same-sex couple. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.8-by-15.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)
Rich in pointers but too reasonable to be a mind-changer. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4549-4277-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Sterling Children's Books
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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