A thought-provoking guide to the past, present, and future of cities.
What makes a city a good place for people to live?
Projections are that in just over 25 years, most people—perhaps 7 billion of us—will be urbanites. How can cities handle pollution (including emissions), the climate crisis, and waste? How can they encourage the perfect “Goldilocks” midsize neighborhood? How can they provide safety, mobility, green space, community, acceptance, and healthy air, water, and food? This engaging, accessible book will spark discussions of these and other questions. Frequently addressing readers directly, and inviting their imaginative participation through “If You Lived in...” features, the text covers a great deal of ground, from the earliest cities through the present day and into the future. Chapters focus on urban design, transportation, water and waste, energy, and food. Sidebars offer fascinating tidbits—for instance, that in London, there is roughly the same number of trees as people and that in ancient Rome, public toilets were a communal affair. Copious examples are drawn from cities on six continents and throughout history. A final visionary page is a good jumping-off place for conversations about the ideal city. The ebullient double-page-spread visuals burst with colorful photos, diagrams, graphics, and vignettes full of bright-eyed people who are diverse in race and ability. Images are historically accurate and effectively labeled.
A thought-provoking guide to the past, present, and future of cities. (glossary, resources, index) (Illustrated nonfiction 9-12)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781459831469
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
Still, for armchair tourists, a broad if rosy picture of our neighbor to the north.
Arrays of small color photos, cartoons and occasional comic-book pages provide visuals for a young traveler’s lively if superficial account of a quick province-by-province drive across Canada.
Bowers’ travelogue is similar in tone and content but aimed at a younger audience than her Wow Canada (2010) (and proceeds east to west before looping north, rather than the reverse). She takes her 9-year-old narrator to cities, roadside attractions and natural wonders from Cape Spear to Iqaluit. The child's observations are interspersed with side comments (“We walked around the lake until the mosquitoes had sucked all our blood”) and brief info-dumps from tour guides, a fact-loving little cousin and others. Simplification leads to some misinformation (no, the West Edmonton Mall is not the “world’s biggest,” nor is it strictly accurate to claim that Lake Michigan is “the only [great] lake not in Canada”). Ultimately and unfortunately, readers will come away knowing much more about regional foods (“Tried eating haggis. Big mistake”) and other artifacts of European settlement than newer immigrant populations or even, until the chapter on Nunavut, First Nations.
Still, for armchair tourists, a broad if rosy picture of our neighbor to the north. (maps, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-77049-255-4
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
A broadly focused look at the topic, neither systematic nor forceful, but well designed for browsers with casual interest or...
An airy survey of the effects of climate through history and prehistory, from the initial case of “planetary flatulence” that created Earth’s atmosphere to the effects of whale poop, the computer industry and less-frequent bathing on levels of greenhouse gases.
Christie presents a disjointed but roughly chronological series of observations beneath jokey questions like “Who put the lizard in blizzard?” (about dinosaurs in the Antarctic) and “What is it with kids these days?” (about El Niño and La Niña). The book is not without flaw. The author confuses “stalactite” with “stalagmite,” seldom brings in facts to support his claims, and fails to draw credible connections between climate change and events like the Viking discovery of North America, the building of cathedrals in Medieval Europe, or the destruction of the Spanish Armada. Nevertheless, in general, readers will come away with a better picture of climate’s long-term effects and the forces that govern it. Lame jokes, the occasional simple “Clim-ACTivity” and Kinnaird’s cartoon vignettes further lighten the informational load. The author cites sources for his information (though not specific pages) in endnotes.
A broadly focused look at the topic, neither systematic nor forceful, but well designed for browsers with casual interest or short attention spans. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55451-375-8
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012
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