A rousing story of kids making an impact on the world of science.
In this tale inspired by co-author Ojeda’s personal experience, kindred spirits reach for the stars.
Natalia, a young girl living in Chile, dreams of becoming a scientist, though she’s never known anyone who attended university. Luna, a ladybug, or “chinita” in Chilean Spanish, aspires to be an astronaut, though her peers scoff at her. Their paths cross when Luna flies off in search of her dreams…and crash-lands on Natalia’s science paper. Natalia and her classmates are tasked with designing a space-themed science experiment, and when Luna makes her presence known, inspiration hits. Soon the students are working hard on a project involving the use of ladybugs as a natural form of pest control for crops grown in space. Natalia, Luna, and some of the students head to the United States to pitch their project to NASA. Getting the green light, they see their hard work pay off when Luna launches with the space shuttle Columbia; on board is Eileen Collins, “the first woman to command a NASA mission.” A note from Ojeda explains more thoroughly how in the late 1990s, she and her high school classmates created a project that was selected by NASA, although the main narrative skimps on some of these details and feels a bit rushed. Human characters outshine the optimistic insect, who’s endearing but feels superfluous. Still, Montoya’s bright, cheery illustrations are inviting, and the book offers a stirring example of representation in STEM.
A rousing story of kids making an impact on the world of science. (photos, Spanish glossary, online resources) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 16, 2024
ISBN: 9781665930406
Page Count: 48
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2024
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
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