Disappointingly narrow in cultural perspective, nevertheless it’s digestibly arranged and presented grist for young readers...
A handsome portrait gallery and finding guide for the 88 “official” constellations.
Unlike most guides for young stargazers, which introduce just a few select constellations, this systematic catalog goes for the whole modern, International Astronomical Union–standardized roster. Following a historical introduction, the author groups all 88 by age and then type, presenting in each tidy entry a small sky map opposite a full-page, fleshed-out image, a verbal description of the constellation’s shape, the Arabic and Latin names of at least one featured star, associated asterisms, and brief explanations or paraphrased versions of background myths. These last are, unfortunately, colorless (“Prometheus was tied to a rock and an eagle was sent to peck at him every day as punishment.” Peck?!?). Worse, notwithstanding vague references to star myths in “many cultures” and a set of relevant URLs in the back, with rare exceptions they are confined to ancient Greek tales alone. Gillingham’s stylized figures are serigraphic in look with golden brown and turquoise as featured hues; she neatly sidesteps the problematic “Indus (The Indian)” by inviting readers to imagine their own overlays. She closes with a full set of larger seasonal star maps, but actual nocturnal expeditions will be better served by the interactive apps and other resources she mentions in the endmatter.
Disappointingly narrow in cultural perspective, nevertheless it’s digestibly arranged and presented grist for young readers with a budding or even latent interest in sky watching. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7148-7772-3
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Phaidon
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2018
A fascinating account of a truly bizarre disaster.
Imagine a 40-foot wall of molasses turning a harborside neighborhood upside down.
It was a hopeful time in Boston. The worst of the Spanish influenza was over, World War I had just ended and Babe Ruth had helped the Red Sox win the World Series the previous fall. But on January 15, 1919, in Boston’s North End, on a sunny, warm day, the molasses tank in the neighborhood blew. More than 2,300,000 gallons of molasses, weighing 13,000 tons, flowed down the street, uplifting houses, twisting railroad tracks and killing 21 people. Fallen elevated train tracks, dead horses, collapsed buildings and crushed cars made the areas look as though a tornado had come through. The smell of molasses in the neighborhood didn’t fade until 1995, though the memory of the event has. Using firsthand testimony from the 40-volume transcript from Dorr v. U.S. Industrial Alcohol, the hearings that followed the event, Kops has done a fine job of resurrecting the story and recreating the day through third-person stories of the actual players. Had she retained some of the first-person accounts, she may have lent her narrative greater immediacy, but it is nevertheless an intriguing read. A useful map, abundant archival photographs and sidebars offering historical context complement the lively prose.
A fascinating account of a truly bizarre disaster. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-58089-348-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2011
The level of violence is unrealistically low, but these purposeful vignettes add a gauzy back story to what today’s children...
In six fictional episodes directly linked to paleontological artifacts, Weaver retraces the past 2.5 million years of “hominin” (pre)history.
Framed as a modern lad’s daydreams, her reconstructions open with the short life of the Australopithecine “Taung child” and end with a supposed seasonal ritual by a group of early modern Homo sapiens in what would become Europe some 26,000 years ago. In between they offer scenes in the daily lives (and deaths) of Homo habilis, Homo erectus and Neanderthal in future Africa and the Mideast. With paintings that resemble museum-diorama backgrounds—loose, but careful with natural detail—Celeskey tracks evolutionary changes in facial features, body types and clothing (or lack thereof). As the narrative progresses, the author inserts speculative but informed touchpoints in the development of names (“Roaank Awaagh” to “Moluk of the Wolf Clan”) and language, tools and culture. Explanatory afterwords elaborate on the evidence incorporated into each chapter.
The level of violence is unrealistically low, but these purposeful vignettes add a gauzy back story to what today’s children may have only seen as a few old chipped stones and fossil bones. (resource lists) (Creative nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8263-4442-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Univ. of New Mexico
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
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