Dry, dispirited, and unlikely to tempt armchair travelers to bestir themselves.
Comparative profiles of 12 historical sites now and in their heydays, from Stonehenge to Macchu Picchu.
“Wonder” is conspicuously absent from this random, perfunctory, nigh-on-depressive archaeological tour that begins with the Great Pyramid at Giza and goes on in no discernible order. The entries mix staid, mechanically drawn, almost uniformly drab views of each site’s main structures now and in the past with narrative commentary. Rather than illuminating the lives or cultures of ancient builders, the text too often runs to equally bland bonbons: “There are frequent buses to and from Cairo”; “Angkor Wat is very important to the Cambodian people.” The entries are reasonably diverse of age and locale (four are European) as well as type: Along with the “lost” city of Petra and other ruins, the moai of Easter Island march in turn, as do the terra-cotta warriors of Qin Shih Huang. All of the large-format spreads feature big, shaped flaps and single or double gatefolds. But for every case where these are used to dramatic visual effect, such as a “now and then” of the Roman Colosseum (and even that is shown in a diagrammatic style), elsewhere lifting the flaps reveals no more than schematic alternatives to compare (the Parthenon), a smaller reconstruction set to one side (Stonehenge, Chichén Itzá), or just more images and bits of information (Petra, “Cleopatra’s Sunken City”).
Dry, dispirited, and unlikely to tempt armchair travelers to bestir themselves. (Informational novelty. 8-13)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-78701-340-7
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Lonely Planet
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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