THE ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF ARCHITECTURE AND MARVELOUS MONUMENTS

Name: THE ILLUSTRATED ATLAS OF ARCHITECTURE AND MARVELOUS MONUMENTS
Author: Sarah Tavernier
ISBN: 978-3-89955-775-6

by Sarah Tavernier & Alexandre Verhille ; illustrated by Sarah Tavernier ; Alexandre Verhille ; translated by Noelia Hobeika ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 25, 2016

A well-designed compendium of information about world architecture, if a mite formal.

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From France, an elegantly designed atlas of world architecture, illustrated exclusively with drawings and packed with useful facts about a large selection of around 36 noteworthy monuments from each of six continents.

Each continent is illustrated with a large map showing numbered thumbnail images of the buildings and a panel with key facts about the region: number of countries, population size and density, percentage of the world’s population, surface area, and climate. The buildings featured are fairly evenly divided between striking contemporary architecture (London’s Gherkin and Shard, Malaysia’s Petronas Towers, Quito’s UNASUR headquarters—“180 feet of cantilevers”!) and religious and political structures (the Taj Mahal, the Blue Mosque, the Caribbean Center of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Romania’s Palace of the Parliament—the “second largest administrative building in the world,” covering 1,280 acres). Each spread offers a dozen or so panels, each illustrating a building and containing key statistics including "did you know?"–type facts; the architect’s name; location, size, height, quantity of material, special features, and years of construction. The endpapers show some of the buildings in relative scale. The order of presentation begins the tour in Europe and concludes in South America, and the diversity of building styles and types should open the most jingoistic eyes.

A well-designed compendium of information about world architecture, if a mite formal. (Nonfiction. 8-14)

Pub Date: Nov. 25, 2016

ISBN: 978-3-89955-775-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Little Gestalten

Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
PRECIOUS PLANET
by Emmanuelle Figueras ; illustrated by Alexandre Verhille & Sarah Tavernier

- BOOK REVIEW
RECORDMANIA
by Emmanuelle Figueras ; illustrated by Alexandre Verhille & Sarah Tavernier ; translated by Kevin St. John

- BOOK REVIEW
LEGENDARY ROUTES OF THE WORLD
by Alexandre Verhille & Sarah Tavernier ; illustrated by Alexandre Verhille & Sarah Tavernier ; translated by David Henry Wilson

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JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

by Craig Robinson & Adam Mansbach ; illustrated by Keith Knight ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.

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Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.

Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.

A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: March 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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PERCY JACKSON'S GREEK GODS

by Rick Riordan ; illustrated by John Rocco ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 19, 2014

The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.

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Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.

Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”

The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)