A memorable overview, artistically at least, but mostly flash.
Graphic design shines in this survey of light, color, what we see, and how we see it.
Sharing both strengths and weaknesses with its companion Sound: Shhh…Bang…Pop…Boom! (2020), this overview combines pithy forays into the imagination and scientific observations with exuberant, creative illustrations highlighted by generous use of Day-Glo orange and vivid blues. The science is usually clear but does occasionally become hard to parse—and, sometimes, hard to read due to tintype and poor contrast. In no obvious order the Ukrainian creators focus on a broad range of topics including eye color and structure, common signs and symbols, optical effects and illusions, Braille, photography, primary and mixed colors, and (with the rationale that “I envision more than what my eyes can see”) even smell, hearing, touch, and taste. The visuals are often riveting, though an uncaptioned photograph and several asterisked explanations relegated to the back endpaper are signs that the spotlight is on page design, not content. Moreover, the stylized human figures throughout are not rendered with an obvious eye to diversity; for instance, all of the faces are paper white in a full-page gallery of expressions, and in another of eyeglass wearers, just six of 25 present female, and there are just two with dark skin. Still, every page up to the closing bucket list of things “worth seeing” in and beyond our world offers a rewarding sight and/or insight.
A memorable overview, artistically at least, but mostly flash. (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4521-7977-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Handprint/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
In a word: Wonderful.
A spelling-bee champ welcomes readers to the zesty, awesome world of wording wizardry.
Whether you recite it from A to Z or in reverse, the alphabet’s cool, not to mention the words you can build by combining its letters in myriad ways. Such is the premise of this cheerful book that lists 26 empowering words, from Z to A—Avant-garde’s own initials—each beginning with a different letter of the alphabet (except X, for which extraordinary subs). Each word is a favorite of the teen author, who in 2021 became the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The word list begins and ends with the author’s own names (Zaila, meaning “mighty, powerful,” and Avant-garde, “to be at the forefront”). On each page, the same word appears three to five times, printed in boldfaced type, alongside brief, thought-provoking, upbeat observations. The words cavort spiritedly on the page in hyphenated form (“L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R,” “K-I-N-D-N-E-S-S”), inviting readers to draw their pronunciations out slowly, as if to playfully savor their “feel.” A pithy quotation from luminaries such as Albert Einstein, Sitting Bull, and Shakira accompanies each word. Energetic, bold illustrations featuring dynamic patterns and characters diverse in skin tone, age, and physical ability greatly enliven the book. Readers should be strongly encouraged to create personal word lists and commentaries. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
In a word: Wonderful. (the origins of Zaila’s words of wonder) (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: June 27, 2023
ISBN: 9780593568934
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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