Solidly research based, this may shutter some eyes, but it’s likely to open more.
Studies show that nearly half of the teens in this country don’t get enough sleep—and here’s a look at what they’re missing.
Gamely battling the inherent tendency of books about the topic to make readers drowse off, Kyi effervescently digests accumulated knowledge and recent findings from the dozens of scientific studies cited in the endnotes to highlight ways in which sleep gives our brains a chance to organize experiences, benefits our immune systems, and affects bodily functions from motor skills to weight control. She also offers nods to the history of sleep studies, from the invention of the EEG on, the stages of sleep and disorders like sleep apnea, and biochemical processes that initiate or disrupt sleep. In response to findings that teens need over nine hours of sleep a night for best results, she spends some time on the growing movement to experiment with later start times in high schools. If she spares barely a glance at the hazards and side effects of sleeping pills and leaves unmentioned the fact that animals dream too, still she covers a lot of territory in a reasonably systematic way. Some of her observations may even prompt young night owls to reexamine their habits. Aside from the occasional anatomical image, Goulet’s cartoon illustrations are just decorative…but human figures wakeful and otherwise are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Solidly research based, this may shutter some eyes, but it’s likely to open more. (index, further reading) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0149-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
This survey of body systems tries too hard for a broad audience, mixing paragraphs of lines like, “Without bones we would just be bags of goop,” printed in slightly larger type, with brief but specific discussions of osteoblasts, myofibrils, peristalsis and like parts and functions. Seven single or double gatefolds allow the many simple, brightly painted illustrations space to range from thumbnail size to forearm-length. Many of the visuals offer inside and outside views of a multicultural cast—of children, by and large, though the sexual organs are shown on headless trunks and the final picture provides a peek inside a pregnant mother. Even if younger readers don’t stumble over the vocabulary while older ones reject the art as babyish, this isn’t going to make the top shelf; information is presented in a scattershot way, the text and pictures don’t consistently correspond—three muscles needed to kick a soccer ball are named but not depicted, for instance, and an entire tongue is labeled “taste bud”—and the closing resource list is both print only and partly adult. (glossary, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-7091-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
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