Societal limits cannot extinguish talent.
When Wu Chien Shiung is born, her parents worry, “What would become of her?” Due to sexist mores, “in those days, girls were not sent to school.” But Chien Shiung was lucky, as before she was born both parents had opened a school for girls, encouraging families in their town of Liuhe to educate their daughters. “Soon enough, Chien Shiung [has] learned everything she could from her parents’ school,” leaving for the city of Suzhou, miles away from home and family. There she finds her passions for physics, reading (or “self-learning”), and politics. Her extraordinary talent takes her to bigger opportunities and further away from home. Eventually she ends up at Columbia University in New York. Because of her expertise in beta decay, three groups of scientists enlist her help with their research. From her work, all three groups win the Nobel Prize, but she is overlooked every single time. And “because she [is] a woman, because she [is] Asian,” Chien Shiung is passed over for jobs. Yet her advocacy and sheer talent cannot be ignored for much longer. Huang utilizes spirited mixed-media images with a neutral palette to illuminate Shiung’s journey. Robeson is seemingly engrossed in the details, giving the longer-than-usual text the feel of a recitation of facts.
The fascinating life of the subject compensates for a somewhat dry and lengthy narration. (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4549-3220-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: June 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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An outsized overview of animal types, senses, and common characteristics liberally endowed with flaps, pull-tabs, and like furbelows.
Della Malva’s realistically drawn animals crowd sturdy leaves large enough to feature life-size (or nearly so) images of the folded wings of a sea gull and a macaw, and Baumann fills the gaps between with meaty descriptive comments. On every page elements that lift, unfold, pop up, or spin aren’t just slapped on, but actively contribute to the presentation. On a “Birth and Growing” spread, for instance, each of six eggs from ostrich to platypus is a flap with an embryo beneath; a spinner presents a slideshow of a swallowtail’s life cycle from egg to adult; and no fewer than three attached booklets expand on the general topic using other species. Subsequent spreads cover animal sight, hearing, body coverings, grasping and touch, locomotion, and—centering on a startling gander down the pop-up maw of a wolf—eating. The animals and relevant body parts are all clearly labeled, and the text is pitched to serve equally well both casual browsers (“Even fish pee!”) and young zoologists seriously interested in the difference between “scales” and “scutes” or curious about the range of insect-mouth shapes.
Big and likely to draw a large audience both for its subject and the plethora of interactive doodads. (Informational novelty. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-68464-281-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Twirl/Chronicle
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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