Combining the author/illustrator’s stated “love for [his] adopted country with [his] admiration for antique circus wagons,” this offering serves up 50 cars, one for each state, and “a most marvelous caboose” (Washington, DC). Each meticulously decorated car—ordered by each state’s admission to the Union—includes such standard details as flag, state critters, and nickname, as well as various notable state residents. To make sure the most important information doesn’t slip by, a panel at the bottom includes the state tree, flower, and bird (replicating the facts above), capital, and a random factoid (“North Dakota has 63 National Wildlife Refuges, more than any other state”). State-fact purists will no doubt be peeved to find that mottoes properly expressed in languages other than English are translated with no indication of such (New Mexico’s Latin “Crescit Eundo” becomes “It grows as it goes”). It’s certainly a very pretty caravan, Sís’s propensity for itty-bitty detail leading to some highly ornate wagons, but the overall impression of the whole is a big “So what?” One can’t even fall back on the standard “Good for reports.” (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-06-057838-6
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2004
Hodgkins’s entry in the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series draws a visual timeline from centuries back, when humans’ dreams of flying evolved into reality. The succinct, simplified text cites human efforts to fly like birds and describes the aeronautical physics of gliding using drag force, thrust and lift. Kelley’s breezy illustrations convey a buoyant tone and keep the explanations understandable for curious young minds. Two pages of backmatter provide “Flying Facts” and instructions for making a paper airplane. Lightly touching on everything from the days of imagining the winged Icarus and dreaming of wings to today’s nonchalance about air travel, this is a welcome addition to easy science books about humans and flight. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-029558-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Collins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2007
A glorious monument to the national monuments.
The national monuments get their due.
Walker briefly recounts the history of the monuments (thank you, Teddy Roosevelt). Instead of the usual glossy photos, the text is paired with copious subtle watercolors, harmoniously arrayed with text on generous double-page spreads. Sparkling descriptions invite reader participation: “Imagine it’s 1892, and you’re arriving” in New York Harbor. “What will you see in the [pipestone] rocks?” Many monuments are in sites of superb natural beauty, but unlike the national parks, they must have historical, prehistorical, cultural, and/or scientific interest. Readers will find information on dinosaur fossils, geology, flora and fauna, and places important to Indigenous people, significant in history (Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument, Stonewall National Monument, the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument), and/or connected to American leaders like Cesar Chavez. Fascinating facts are interspersed (the Washington Monument is held together through friction and gravity rather than mortar; the Pullman workers’ 1894 strike helped establish Labor Day). Regional maps throughout indicate the locations of the various monuments, divided by area: East, Central, Southwest, Mountain West, West, Alaska, and Tropics. A calm, subdued palette and geometric-based forms that use washes rather than line allow for a maximum of information without fussiness and, with help from typography, evoke classic WPA posters.
A glorious monument to the national monuments. (index) (Nonfiction. 6-10)Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9780711265493
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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