A popular subject, but Lloyd Kyi never gets to the bottom of it.
Snappy writing gives this history some “briefs” appeal, but it’s too scantily clad in specifics.
“We all own it. We all wear it. We all wash it. (At least, I hope we do!)” Lloyd Kyi follows up 50 Burning Questions: A Sizzling History of Fire (2010) with a like number of posers on styles and changing fashions of undies worldwide and through history—though her view of the topic is broad enough to include mentions of loincloths, chain mail and other items more often worn as outerwear. She slips from the goatskin garment worn by the prehistoric “Iceman” and the mawashi that Japanese sumo wrestlers sport to contemporary undershorts with pockets for cellphones and the “union suit gone cyber” that astronauts wear while spacewalking. As colorful as her general observations and terse anecdotes are, though, there isn’t much substance or system to her study—readers curious about the etymology of “skivvies” or “g-strings,” what the “bejeweled undershirts” that were outlawed in London at some unspecified time looked like or the nature of the athletic “technology” developed by Under Armour will be left in the dark. Even when she does go into detail about, for instance, farthingales or how the Papua New Guinea women’s maro displays marital status, instead of a helpful archival or other illustration, Kinnaird’s cartoon images supply only jokey filler.
A popular subject, but Lloyd Kyi never gets to the bottom of it. (further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55451-353-6
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2011
Go adventuring with a better guide.
Find something to do in every state in the U.S.A.!
This guide highlights a location of interest within each of the states, therefore excluding Washington, D.C., and the territories. Trivia about each location is scattered across crisply rendered landscapes that background each state’s double-page spread while diminutive, diverse characters populate the scenes. Befitting the title, one “adventure” is presented per state, such as shrimping in Louisiana’s bayous, snowshoeing in Connecticut, or celebrating the Fourth of July in Boston. While some are stereotypical gimmes (surfing in California), others have the virtue of novelty, at least for this audience, such as viewing the sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Within this thematic unity, some details go astray, and readers may find themselves searching in vain for animals mentioned. The trivia is plentiful but may be misleading, vague, or incorrect. Information about the Native American peoples of the area is often included, but its brevity—especially regarding sacred locations—means readers are floundering without sufficient context. The same is true for many of the facts that relate directly to expansion and colonialism, such as the unexplained near extinction of bison. Describing the genealogical oral history of South Carolina’s Gullah community as “spin[ning] tales” is equally brusque and offensive. The book tries to do a lot, but it is more style than substance, which may leave readers bored, confused, slightly annoyed—or all three. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12.2-by-20.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.)
Go adventuring with a better guide. (tips on local adventuring, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5445-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
In brief chapters, abundantly illustrated with amusing cartoons and photographs, the author explores common fears shared by...
Murphy, the author of Why Is Snot Green? (2009), tackles another high-interest subject in this entertaining look at fears and phobias.
In brief chapters, abundantly illustrated with amusing cartoons and photographs, the author explores common fears shared by people from all walks of life: wild animals, snakes and insects, natural disasters, dentists and doctors, darkness, death, drowning, heights, ghosts, monsters in closets and more. He explains the differences between innate and learned fears and between fears and phobias, also discussing their biological and psychological dimensions. After describing a particular fear, he follows with a discussion of how grounded in reality that fear is and explains the likelihood of that fear becoming a reality. "The odds of dying in a sandstorm or snowstorm are, for most people, very low… [They] are dangerous, but fairly predictable." As in his other books, Murphy includes enough gross details to keep readers engaged (some foodborne microorganisms "make us vomit and poo explosively") but always stays centered on science ("E. coli… is usually a harmless bacterium").Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-633-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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