Sits nicely at the intersection of beautiful and useful.
Art meets science in this highly visual, concise trip through the universe and planet Earth.
In this bright and appealing book, Giménez combines attractive, purposeful infographics with approachable, digestible text. The work is divided into sections focusing on the universe, the Earth, water, and climate, and for each topic, Giménez uses a different palette—pages devoted to the vastness of the universe and the Big Bang make use of midnight blues, black, and fiery reds, for example. These pages focus on the orbits of the planets, the sun depicted in a hue that looks to be derived from the red of the Big Bang. The images are the stars of the show; a graph of river lengths and a chart of mountain peaks and ocean depths are especially well done. The text is centered on each page against a bold, solid-colored background; effective use of negative space eliminates the overwhelming feeling of wordier nonfiction. Giménez plays with larger or bolded fonts to highlight important statements. A solid introduction to a variety of subjects, this book features fascinating facts while maintaining a good pace with plenty of stimulating visuals.
Sits nicely at the intersection of beautiful and useful. (glossary, sources) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 24, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64614-130-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
A good if limited starting guide.
Author Leavitt presents all the components of doing research into family history with easy-to-follow directions for a successful project.
The volume begins with clear definitions about genealogy and why it is important to study. It moves on to give practical tips on getting started and how to map a family tree. It introduces young readers to the important documents that can assist in gathering family facts and describes the information they provide. It gives solid directions for setting up interviews with family members and how to reach out to those who are far away. This is followed up with strategies for using online resources, including warnings on how to stay safe on social media. The work of tracing ancestors from their countries of origin can be daunting, but Leavitt gives some help in this area as well and explores the role geography can play in family stories. There is good advice for collecting oral histories, and the chapter on exploring “The Way They Were” will appeal to many, as will the concluding chapters on family reunions and keeping in touch. All of this is presented in an encouraging, upbeat tone. Sidebars, charts, illustrations, and photographs add to the accessibility. The major drawback is that it assumes a known biological lineage with heterosexual parentage; there is no mention of the unique issues adopted children and nontraditional families might have in trying to put some of the instructions into practice. A short section addresses the challenges that face African-American descendants of enslaved people.
A good if limited starting guide. (resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4549-2320-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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