The message is sound, the delivery decidedly otherwise.
A car trip through space becomes a journey back in time.
Keeping to a steady 37 miles an hour as they motor into the sky, a light-skinned parent, accompanied by two children squabbling over territory in the back seat, comments that “we humans have always fought each other over space,” drawing borders since our planet seemed so big. Readers will certainly see the fallacy in that last notion play out after the parent hangs a left at the moon and, looking back after a 78-year drive to Venus, notes that 78 years ago our entire world was at war. Similarly, the 150 years it would take to reach Mercury marks a time when Africa was being violently divvied up by colonial powers. As a zigzag course passes the sun and each outer planet, other conflicts in the Americas and on back 8,000 years to the end of the latest ice age pass in review, too. But the already-strained conceit collapses at Pluto with the astoundingly facile claim that 11,000 years ago people were “much too busy surviving to bother with fighting each other.” Scenes of a sedan wheeling through the vast distances of space past recognizably limned planets alternate with views of tiny figures on battlefields, waving national flags and wielding weapons; the book ends with the family back home, children asleep in parental arms beneath starry skies. The absurdity of humans continually fighting for tiny bits of our tiny planet comes through, but the confusing contradiction of the main premise results in a conclusion that feels less like a resolution than an abrupt loss of interest. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
The message is sound, the delivery decidedly otherwise. (timeline) (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-62152-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill.
Grown-ups may not be the only audience for this simple explanation of how algorithms work.
Taking a confused-looking hipster parent firmly in hand, a child first points to all the computers around the house (“Pro Tip: When dealing with grown-ups, don’t jump into the complicated stuff too fast. Start with something they already know”). Next, the child leads the adult outside to make and follow step-by-step directions for getting to the park, deciding which playground equipment to use, and finally walking home. Along the way, concepts like conditionals and variables come into play in street maps and diagrams, and a literal bug stands in for the sort that programmers will inevitably need to find and solve. The lesson culminates in an actual sample of very simple code with labels that unpack each instruction…plus a pop quiz to lay out a decision tree for crossing the street, because if “your grown-up can explain it, that shows they understand it!” That goes for kids, too—and though Spiro doesn’t take the logical next step and furnish leads to actual manuals, young (and not so young) fledgling coders will find plenty of good ones around, such as Get Coding! (2017), published by Candlewick, or Rachel Ziter’s Coding From Scratch (2018).
A lighthearted first look at an increasingly useful skill. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9781623543181
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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