The Jason Project is familiar to many Internet surfers, who have watched and even interacted with scientists off the coast of Baja California, in Mexico, as they dive to the ocean floor to explore deep sea vents, and the creatures which form near them, including the astounding bacteria that use chemical energy to make sugar. Dusty, in a breathless, first-person narration (“ ‘Wow!’ I gasped, ‘Awesome!’ “), explores the bottom of the sea with the crew of the Jason Project. Students use cameras aboard the deep-diving mini-submarine, Turtle, and even operate an undersea robot, Jason. The adventure is splendid, with detailed diagrams and fascinating information; the narration is often banal: “ ‘It sounds like an ecosystem that’s really different from the one we live in,’ I thought out loud.” In fact, the framing of questions and facts in dialogue (“ ‘VÇronique, we learned in school that water turns into a gas when it boils at 212¯F (100¯C). Why is the 572¯F water coming out of the smoker still liquid?’ I asked”) is overly tricky and renders the text difficult to follow. The layout combines text, pastels, watercolors, full-color photographs, and a border; if such a busy, cluttered format occasionally obscures the text for younger readers, it may attract MTV-age readers accustomed to the frantic pace of web pages. (maps, glossary) (Picture book. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7922-7340-0
Page Count: 47
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
Floca (The Frightful Story of Harry Walfish, 1997, etc.) offers a great explication of the small trucks that airline passengers see scurrying around jets on the runways. In brightly painted illustrations and simple descriptions, he introduces each vehicle, explains what it does, and shows it in action, e.g., the truck called the baggage conveyor is shown hoisting suitcases into the belly of the plane. All five trucks’ duties point to a big finale when the plane takes off. Given preschoolers’ well-documented fascination with heavy machinery, this book will strike a chord with young air travelers, and answer the questions of older travelers as well. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2561-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
cannoli cream off your fingers. (Picture book. 5-8)
Transporting us back to a time when cars had fins, eyeglasses had points, and women wore high heels to go shopping,
Cocca-Leffler (Mr. Tanen’s Ties, 1998) has crafted a perfectly simple and engaging story out of a day spent shopping. The narrator lives on a street that’s on the bus route to the big city of Boston, and all the neighborhood kids get to know Bill the bus driver. One Saturday, Mom and her two daughters take Bill’s bus to Filene’s Basement, where they hunt for bargains and cap the day with ice cream. Another Saturday, Bill takes them to the Italian North End, where they visit the butcher and the baker and vegetable stands, ending with delicious cannoli, which they eat on the bus ride home. The last cannoli always goes to Bill, who calls the trio his "cannoli girls." The acrylic-on-gesso illustrations fill the pages to their edges with cheerful cityscapes, figures, and architecture alike, rendered in bright, affectionate hues. Warm, winning, and as satisfying as licking
cannoli cream off your fingers. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-56397-723-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2000
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