Dramatic, oversized paintings and a brief text take the reader from the creation of the universe to modern Homo sapiens. This impressive-looking overview suffers somewhat from a lack of captions (e.g., several forms of ``early man `' are discussed but it's not indicated which is illustrated) and from oversimplification (Berger opens with ``The Big Bang'' as fact rather than as one of several theories). Dinosaurs are overemphasized and dramatically but conventionally portrayed; some readers may be confused by including non-dinosaurs in the ``dinosaur section'' without explanation. Still, a visually appealing introduction. Index. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: June 14, 1991
ISBN: 0-385-24874-1
Page Count: 45
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In the summer of 1910, when cars begin to replace horses, and librarians still check for clean hands, New Yorker Dossi finds herself bound for a small town in Vermont, courtesy of the Fresh Air Fund, the charity for poor city children. The “city girl who doesn’t know a weed from a window” is inducted into a world of milking cows and picking berries, not to mention experiencing mosquitoes and (unbelievably) dew for the first time. The familiar plot line has Dossi learning about egg yolks and burning wood, ice houses and chicken coops; she mistakes fireflies for sparks and eats raw rhubarb from the garden. Tension mounts as Dossi tries to win the affection of tight-lipped Emma, the farmer’s daughter who leaves Dossi’s precious library book out in the rain. Not only is the landscape unfamiliar to Dossi, but the expressions of country folk sound strange to her ear, and her host family eats ham when Dossi’s religion forbids it. Postcards and letters to her sister Ruthi, as well as inscriptions from Dossi’s autograph album, are interspersed between chapters, breaking up the rather formal tone. Although Dossi is 12, she sounds younger, making this book suitable for fans of the American Girls audience. Pastoral woodcuts garnish each chapter with old-fashioned country still lifes. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-688-15334-8
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Six chapters about islands that belong to the US, each with sections on geography, history, people, and places to visit. The book gives a little history and some skimpy information about each region (e.g., ``commonwealth flower'' or ``major industries''), but is extremely repetitive. It is written in prose that could not be more stilted. Too dull for a tourist booklet and too poorly organized for an encyclopedia article, this book is neither entertaining nor useful, and its colorful photographs of the tropics are not enough to redeem it. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-7910-3413-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1995
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