A breezy overview of humankind’s forays into space.
Highlights and lowlights in our ventures into the final frontier, presented in one- to three-page cartoon segments.
Though representing in general a forward march of progress, many of Mason’s chosen exploits end badly—beginning with early examples in which two ancient Chinese astronomers were, according to legend, put to death for failing to predict an eclipse, and Galileo was “grounded…forever” by the Catholic Church. Abbreviated accounts of space dog Laika’s “one-way mission,” space station Mir’s fire and subsequent fall to Earth, the ill-fated Apollo 13, and Chinese Moon rover Yutu 1’s mechanical breakdown in 2013 alternate with glimpses of floating “mystery poops” that appeared in Apollo 10’s cabin and more positive nods to other animals that survived their trips into orbit, Valentina Tereshkova (the first female cosmonaut), the first moon landing, and the ongoing missions of both current space stations, the ISS and China’s Tiangong. References to India’s 2023 Aditya-L1 solar probe and NASA’s Artemis project bring the epic tale more or less up to date; the work closes with a quiz. Though this may not be a systematic picture of space exploration, all the funny business does add color, along with a multinational point of view and a racially diverse cast of scientists and other achievers.
A breezy overview of humankind’s forays into space. (glossary, timeline, index) (Graphic nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9781623547943
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2026
An immersive dunk into a vast subject—and on course for shorter attention spans.
In the wake of Everything Awesome About Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts! (2019), Lowery spins out likewise frothy arrays of facts and observations about sharks, whales, giant squid, and smaller but no less extreme (or at least extremely interesting) sea life.
He provides plenty of value-added features, from overviews of oceanic zones and environments to jokes, drawing instructions, and portrait galleries suitable for copying or review. While not one to pass up any opportunity to, for instance, characterize ambergris as “whale vomit perfume” or the clownfish’s protective coating as “snot armor,” he also systematically introduces members of each of the eight orders of sharks, devotes most of a page to the shark’s electroreceptive ampullae of Lorenzini, and even sheds light on the unobvious differences between jellyfish and the Portuguese man-of-war or the reason why the blue octopus is said to have “arms” rather than “tentacles.” He also argues persuasively that sharks have gotten a bad rap (claiming that more people are killed each year by…vending machines) and closes with pleas to be concerned about plastic waste, to get involved in conservation efforts, and (cannily) to get out and explore our planet because (quoting Jacques-Yves Cousteau) “People protect what they love.” Human figures, some with brown skin, pop up occasionally to comment in the saturated color illustrations. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 45% of actual size.)
An immersive dunk into a vast subject—and on course for shorter attention spans. (bibliography, list of organizations) (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-35973-2
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Together with its companions, too rushed to be first introductions but suitable as second ones.
A highlights reel of the great scientist’s life and achievements, from clandestine early schooling to the founding of Warsaw’s Radium Institute.
In big sequential panels Bayarri dashes through Curie’s career, barely pausing at significant moments (“Mother! A letter just arrived. It’s from Sweden,” announces young Irène. “Oh, really?…They’re awarding me another Nobel!”) in a seeming rush to cover her youth, family life, discoveries, World War I work, and later achievements (with only a closing timeline noting her death, of “aplastic anemia”). Button-eyed but recognizable figures in the panels pour out lecture-ish dialogue. This is well stocked with names and scientific terms but offered with little or no context—characteristics shared by co-published profiles on Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity (“You and your thought experiments, Albert!” “We love it! The other day, Schrödinger thought up one about a cat”), Charles Darwin and the Theory of Evolution, and Isaac Newton and the Laws of Motion. Dark-skinned Tierra del Fuegans make appearances in Darwin, prompting the young naturalist to express his strong anti-slavery views; otherwise the cast is white throughout the series. Engagingly informal as the art and general tone of the narratives are, the books will likely find younger readers struggling to keep up, but kids already exposed to the names and at least some of the concepts will find these imports, translated from the Basque, helpful if, at times, dry overviews.
Together with its companions, too rushed to be first introductions but suitable as second ones. (glossary, index, resource list) (Graphic biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-7821-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Graphic Universe
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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