An adequate survey of the holiday in a pretty package, made a bit more special with its personal touches.
Readers so inclined can celebrate Christmas anytime with this overview of the holiday’s traditions from past to present.
This exploration of Christmas traditions is separated into three chapters, with accounts from the mother-daughter authorial duo’s personal celebrations interspersed throughout. The first chapter follows Christmas’ origins as a non-Christian early midwinter celebration. Readers learn about ancient Rome’s Saturnalia and ancient Greece’s celebration of Dionysus’ birth. Further travels in the Northern Hemisphere introduce readers to Jesus’ birth and the spread of Christianity throughout Europe and beyond. Despite the Puritans’ attempts to cancel Christmas, it “bounces back.” The book’s second chapter then goes on to chronicle the evolution of modern-day Christmas. The third chapter looks at festivities around the world in a smattering of countries in Asia, South America, Central America, Africa, and Oceania. The large, glossy photos (some from the authors’ lives) show a welcome range of racial representation. Sidebars provide some helpful context and interesting asides, including a handful of recipes. The conversational tone is as delightful and jovial as Santa Claus himself. Unfortunately, that results in a rose-colored view of the spread of Christianity, noting that it simply “traveled along with” colonists.
An adequate survey of the holiday in a pretty package, made a bit more special with its personal touches. (glossary, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1355-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
"A human is a pretty wild thing," argues the author of this collection of curious facts and intriguing studies about human behavior. With a breezy text supported by a lively design, the author of Gross Universe (2004) again presents science in a way certain to attract middle-grade and middle-school readers. Chapters on the senses, emotions, communication and interactions with other human beings cover a variety of topics, each on headlined double-page spreads. Each chapter includes a description of “a cool study” organized into appropriate sections: question, observation, experiment (illustrated with step by step cartoons), results and summary. “Are you an animal?” sidebars describe comparable animal behavior. From dirty diapers to canned laughter to body language, he finds topics that both appeal and enlighten. Directly addressing readers, he invites participation by asking questions—“How are you sitting right now?” “Does smell affect your dreams?” “Does your heart race when….?”—and draws them in further with do-it-yourself experiments. A section on good manners even includes guidelines for behavior at a concert—differentiating between classical and rock. The digital art includes bits of photographs, line drawings, the use of color and shapes to help organize the print and plenty of symbols. No specific sources are cited, but an extensive list of experts is acknowledged. Popular science through and through, you can’t help enjoying this. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-926818-07-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)
A true believer presents the evidence.
Expanding on a partial chapter in her outstanding Tales of the Cryptids (2006), Halls makes her case by tallying Native American legends, the many footprints and reported sightings (a map of the latter claims hundreds from every state except Hawaii), the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, the recorded “Sierra Sounds” and other circumstantial evidence. She also interviews scientists and Sasquatch hunters, includes an account of early searches for Tibet’s Yeti, adds the transcript of a panicky 911 call and even covers some proven hoaxes. She maintains a believer's voice, gently challenging refuseniks: "Serious Sasquatch hunters are as skeptical as unbelievers. They are not out to collect great stories. They are out to put together facts. Proof. The difference is, they are willing to keep an open mind." Illustrated with photos, drawings and archival images aplenty and closing with generous lists of print, Web and video resources this is about as convincing as it gets—considering the continuing absence of any incontrovertible physical proof—and should give young cryptid hunters a good hairy leg up on investigations of their own.
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-25761-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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