Not a story of salvation but a work in progress, ably explained.
A highly endangered strain of grizzly bears, protected and supported by the Mongolian government in their Gobi Desert home, may slowly be coming back.
Markle clearly and efficiently introduces a bear unfamiliar to most North American readers, its equally unfamiliar environment, and an international effort to save a species. Her long experience in writing about science for young readers shows in the careful crafting and pacing of her exposition. She frames her narrative with an individual bear’s difficult choice: between feared humans and essential water. She provides the necessary background (including three helpful maps), describing the bears, their desert world, and the international team of Mongolian and Western researchers and citizens who have worked to preserve habitat and provide food. Thoughtful design helps readers track the exposition and identify the side topics. Well-chosen and -captioned photographs from a variety of sources show the bears, other native wildlife, researchers, local farmers and children, and even the “ninja miners” (as they’re known in Mongolia) whose illegal search for gold threatens the progress that’s been made to save a species uniquely adapted for this harsh environment. (There may be only 40 Gobi bears remaining.) The writer concludes with a quote from scientist Harry Reynolds (a White American researcher), who describes his work as “continuing to give the bears a chance,” and a single page reminding readers that “Polar Bears Need Help Too.” (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.75-by-19.5-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Not a story of salvation but a work in progress, ably explained. (author's note, timeline, glossary, source notes, further information, index, photo acknowledgments) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-8125-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pretty but insubstantial.
Zommer surveys various bird species from around the world in this oversized (almost 14 inches tall tall) volume.
While exuberantly presented, the information is not uniformly expressed from bird to bird, which in the best cases will lead readers to seek out additional information and in the worst cases will lead to frustration. For example, on spreads that feature multiple species, the birds are not labeled. This happens again later when the author presents facts about eggs: Readers learn about camouflaged eggs, but the specific eggs are not identified, making further study extremely difficult. Other facts are misleading: A spread on “city birds” informs readers that “peregrine falcons nest on skyscrapers in New York City”—but they also nest in other large cities. In a sexist note, a peahen is identified as “unlucky” because she “has drab brown feathers” instead of flashy ones like the peacock’s. Illustrations are colorful and mostly identifiable but stylized; Zommer depicts his birds with both eyes visible at all times, even when the bird is in profile. The primary audience for the book appears to be British, as some spreads focus on European birds over their North American counterparts, such as the mute swan versus the trumpeter swan and the European robin versus the American robin. The backmatter, a seven-word glossary and an index, doesn’t provide readers with much support.
Pretty but insubstantial. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65151-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts.
From a Caldecott and Sibert honoree, an invitation to take a mind-expanding journey from the surface of our planet to the furthest reaches of the observable cosmos.
Though Chin’s assumption that we are even capable of understanding the scope of the universe is quixotic at best, he does effectively lead viewers on a journey that captures a sense of its scale. Following the model of Kees Boeke’s classic Cosmic View: The Universe in Forty Jumps (1957), he starts with four 8-year-old sky watchers of average height (and different racial presentations). They peer into a telescope and then are comically startled by the sudden arrival of an ostrich that is twice as tall…and then a giraffe that is over twice as tall as that…and going onward and upward, with ellipses at each page turn connecting the stages, past our atmosphere and solar system to the cosmic web of galactic superclusters. As he goes, precisely drawn earthly figures and features in the expansive illustrations give way to ever smaller celestial bodies and finally to glimmering swirls of distant lights against gulfs of deep black before ultimately returning to his starting place. A closing recap adds smaller images and additional details. Accompanying the spare narrative, valuable side notes supply specific lengths or distances and define their units of measure, accurately explain astronomical phenomena, and close with the provocative observation that “the observable universe is centered on us, but we are not in the center of the entire universe.”
A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge, certain to inspire deep thoughts. (afterword, websites, further reading) (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4623-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
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