Christian and Felix (Can It Really Rain Frogs?, 1997, etc.) take readers on a globe-spanning tour of the natural world, pointing out its wonders topically with chapters on canyons, great rivers and waterfalls, glaciers and icebergs, caves, mountains, and forests. Plenty of boxed side comments, plus titles, boldface terms, and random words in a variety of type styles are nicely designed to catch a browser's eye; recurring gnomic representations of Christian mingle with a plethora of casually drawn views and diagrams. The authors have a gift for choosing memorable facts and anecdotes, but are guilty of oversimplification (e.g., ``The air in high levels of the atmosphere contains less oxygen''); several of the low-tech demonstrations are recipes for domestic disaster; since the rest of the book is about water and landforms, the chapter on forests is tangential. Written with enthusiasm, the book is too slapdash to be more than superficially useful. (index, not seen, maps, diagrams, glossary) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1998
ISBN: 0-471-19617-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Wiley
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
The Pumpkin Book (32 pp.; $16.95; Sept. 15; 0-8234-1465-5): From seed to vine and blossom to table, Gibbons traces the growth cycle of everyone’s favorite autumn symbol—the pumpkin. Meticulous drawings detail the transformation of tiny seeds to the colorful gourds that appear at roadside stands and stores in the fall. Directions for planting a pumpkin patch, carving a jack-o’-lantern, and drying the seeds give young gardeners the instructions they need to grow and enjoy their own golden globes. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1465-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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