Striking illustrations cannot redeem these lackluster etymologies.
Ukulele, mummy, karaoke: What do they have in common? These are three of just 12 nouns selected for their “surprising stories.”
In this rather slim volume about linguistic cross-fertilization, the author uses almost more words in his adult-oriented introduction and closing note than he provides for young readers. The format presents phonetic pronunciation, original language, original and English definitions, and a brief history for each word. While the historical anecdotes are interesting, this does not really add up to much of a book. The accomplished, striking, and vividly colored two-page spreads that cunningly work each word into the overall design of an illustration are the real draw. Ukulele means “jumping flea” in the original language, Hawaiian. The name was given to the instruments Hawaiians fashioned after seeing “small guitars brought by European settlers….A ukulele player’s fingers bounce on the strings as quickly as jumping fleas.” In the picture, a band of orangey-brown fleas all bedecked in leis play ukuleles. Questions go unanswered. The entry for “mummy” doesn’t quite explain how the Persian word for “wax” came to be applied to the special Egyptian method of preserving bodies. “Karaoke” means “empty orchestra” in Japanese. The explanation mentions that the “first karaoke machines were developed in Japan” but doesn’t indicate when. The color key locating language families is difficult to correlate with the unlabeled map.
Striking illustrations cannot redeem these lackluster etymologies. (Informational picture book. 8-11)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-912920-18-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: What on Earth Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
The balance between information and attractive bookmaking is always important, but atlases like the National Geographic...
Retro-looking maps with pictures of animals, transport, famous landmarks and traditional dancers fill the pages of this mediocre atlas.
The text emphasizes environmental changes and sustainability, with proportionately less information on people. Organizationally, it starts with the oceans, including the two polar areas, and then explores the landmasses. Short, factoid-heavy paragraphs on physical features, climate and weather, natural resources, environment, wildlife and transport accompany each deeply colored map, and in the appropriate regional sections, a paragraph on people and places is added. Although the disproportionately sized pictures of landmarks, natural resources, generic people and miscellany on the maps are identified ("Omani man"; "bus"), too often they are not further explicated. Occasional fold-out pages and small, inserted “Did You Know?” booklets give the illusion of interactivity. Providing comparisons on carbon footprints (“a person in the UAE [United Arab Emirates] on average emits 15 times more than a person in China”) is vital information that seems at odds with the childish maps. A separate wall map (in the same style) is included. The woeful index includes only entries for country names, followed by their capitals.
The balance between information and attractive bookmaking is always important, but atlases like the National Geographic World Atlas for Young Explorers (2007) still remain the gold standard. This struggles to meet the bronze one. (glossary, index, sources; companion app not seen) (Reference. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-84686-333-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
This ageless trickster tale has a nicely subversive message, but this rendition lacks the panache to carry it off.
A wooden retelling of Perrault’s classic tale, with underwhelming movable parts.
Gurney embellishes the original plotline only by furnishing the Ogre with a back story (provided in a very small pasted-in booklet) and bestowing names on the kingdom and most of the characters. Her prose stumbles (“Puss pondered over [sic] the problem of Peter’s livelihood”), and her dialogue runs to stilted lines like, “We have seen your idea of work, Peter—it is to sit around all day playing your harmonica and idling.” Illustrator Kelley does his best to add plenty of visual panache, crafting painted scenes featuring a swashbuckling ginger puss plainly akin to the scene stealer from Shrek and cleverly manipulating a Disney-esque human cast. Such movable additions as a turn-able water wheel, a pull tab that makes Puss lick his chops after devouring the ogre and even a culminating pop-up wedding tableau are, at best, routine, and they often feel like afterthoughts, enhancing neither the art nor the story.
This ageless trickster tale has a nicely subversive message, but this rendition lacks the panache to carry it off. (Pop-up fairy tale. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7641-6485-9
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
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BOOK REVIEW
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