Meet Layla and her Bots—Beep, Bop, and Boop—stars of this new, STEM-centric series.
Beep is the knowledge manager, Boop is the engineer, and Bop is the software developer. The quad resides happily in Blossom Valley, working tech by day and then moonlighting as rock stars performing in “all sorts of cool places.” A gig at the Happy Days Amusement Park presents their first challenge, when Layla and her mechanical friends learn that the park may have to close down due to low patronage. Naturally, Layla and the Bots decide to investigate. Layla discovers that her Blossom Valley neighbors all appear to be hanging out with their dogs at the local dog park. The team utilizes the skills of the bots to research the number of families in Blossom Valley and brainstorm reasons why they may all be going to the dog park. After talking to the owner of Happy Days, Layla concludes that to bring back the park’s customers, it needs to become a place where people and dogs can have fun together. This easy-to-predict story, told in a mix of text and speech balloons, will give new readers confidence while imparting solid STEM lessons of research and implementation, and it’s great to see a young girl of color portrayed as a confident inventor (and rock star).
A solid introduction for an appealing new chapter-book character. (Graphic science fiction. 5-7)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-58289-5
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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Rhymed couplets convey the story of a girl who likes to build things but is shy about it. Neither the poetry nor Rosie’s projects always work well.
Rosie picks up trash and oddments where she finds them, stashing them in her attic room to work on at night. Once, she made a hat for her favorite zookeeper uncle to keep pythons away, and he laughed so hard that she never made anything publicly again. But when her great-great-aunt Rose comes to visit and reminds Rosie of her own past building airplanes, she expresses her regret that she still has not had the chance to fly. Great-great-aunt Rose is visibly modeled on Rosie the Riveter, the iconic, red-bandanna–wearing poster woman from World War II. Rosie decides to build a flying machine and does so (it’s a heli-o-cheese-copter), but it fails. She’s just about to swear off making stuff forever when Aunt Rose congratulates her on her failure; now she can go on to try again. Rosie wears her hair swooped over one eye (just like great-great-aunt Rose), and other figures have exaggerated hairdos, tiny feet and elongated or greatly rounded bodies. The detritus of Rosie’s collections is fascinating, from broken dolls and stuffed animals to nails, tools, pencils, old lamps and possibly an erector set. And cheddar-cheese spray.
Earnest and silly by turns, it doesn’t quite capture the attention or the imagination, although surely its heart is in the right place. (historical note) (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0845-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not every caterpillar gets the memo—or is, for that matter, temperamentally suited to spending two weeks immobilized in a chrysalis.
Seeing everyone headed up a tree (“We’re going to metamorphosize.” “Meta-WHAT-now?”) a clueless caterpillar hurries to follow. Despite the promise of a dazzling transformation, every step in the natural process, from spinning a chrysalis on, is an occasion for histrionic dismay (“It’s STILL Day 1?” “This is taking FOR-EV-ER!”). Gradually, though, the pop-eyed pupa’s kvetching quiets, the moans and groans turn to meditation (“Be one with the chrysalis”), and two weeks later: “I did it! I’m a BUTTERFLY!” Burach chronicles this miracle of nature in cartoon scenes as loud as the rapid patter, culminating in a migratory flight of butterflies and a final “ARE WE THERE YET?!” that hints at a character transformation that’s perhaps less complete than the physical one. It won’t be just adults chuckling at the interactions between the title character and its patiently pupating companions; all the characters speak in dialogue balloons, the protagonist’s green with purple text to match its chrysalis.
An object lesson in the value of patience as well as a droll introduction to meta-what-now. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-28941-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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