A well-researched biography of a lesser-known scientist, complete with project ideas that extend the book's usefulness. In the same format as Flower Watching (p. 1712), this entry in the Naturalist's Apprentice series combines biographical information—this time on the life and work of entomologist Charles Henry Turner (18671823)—with tips and activities, all expertly illustrated by Caple. Turner's story is one of overcoming obstacles and prejudices as the only African-American in his college class, the first to serve on the faculty of his university, and the first to be elected a member of the St. Louis Academy of Science. Genuinely inspiring are the details of Turner's experiments on the web-building instinct and intelligence of spiders, the homing of ants, the color-blindness of bees. Charts, mazes, and diagrams shed light on Turner's approach as well as provide clear directions on how to replicate insect experiments, along with a list of supplies needed. Insect enthusiasts can investigate whether bees can tell time by setting up a flower schedule and can test the learning abilities of cockroaches and caterpillars by observing them in a maze constructed of building blocks. Bugs are distinguished from insects at the outset, and precise drawings and insets offer background information on the specific subjects of Turner's studies. (glossary, index) (Biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: Dec. 11, 1997
ISBN: 1-57505-003-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Daisy, the duckling who learned a thing or two about paying attention in Come Along, Daisy! (1998), returns in a story of anticipation, persistence, and faith. This acceptably guileless creature enters situations without fear for the consequences; call it youth. Here she is helping her aunt and her mother tend to their eggs. The aunt’s three ducklings hatch out, while the mother’s green egg remains inert. Daisy hangs in there, lending her warm underbelly to the cause, even after her mother casually notes that “some eggs just don’t hatch.” It is a long night for Daisy, but come morning, a new sibling emerges. Despite the heft of the issues, Simmons never allows them to get ponderous. The artwork is equally open-hearted, capturing Daisy’s wait through a succession of lovely paintings that have a variety of entertaining, quite striking perspectives. (Picture book. 3-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79747-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
PLB 0-688-15269-4 George offers alert naturalists a chance to go sleuthing around the world, and the results are invigorationg. Miss Lewis, a teacher, is off circumnavigating Earth; she corresponds with the students back home, telling of her travels and the creatures she encounters in Peru, Antarctica, Kenya, China, Japan, Australia, Alaska, and an island off the coast of California. She describes the wildlife, mentions particular sites she visits, often throws in an anthropological nugget or two, and then ends with a question that relates to some unusual trace that has been left by an animal—gouges taken out of cliff faces, a tree stripped bare, mysterious snowballs around a hot spring, a trail cut through the stony tundra. The animal is subsequently identified, although readers will not know until the end of the book, where the traces are explained, exactly what has transpired. George doesn’t try to cram every page with information, but is selective, choosing material that distills the unique character of a place. Excellent, highly detailed illustrations accompany the text. (maps) (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-15268-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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