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STAR WALK KIDS

Name: STAR WALK KIDS
Author: Vito Technology, Inc.

developed by Vito Technology, Inc. ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2014

This guide to the heavens is cool for browsing, but it is too unsystematic for sustained research.

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For budding sky watchers, this much simplified version of the StarWalk apps offers quick doses of selected astronomical basics plus tantalizing leads to more.

As ethereal background music plays, users explore the visible sky. They have the option of seeing a matched cartoon rendition of any portion of the current nighttime sky to which the tablet’s back points, changing the speed of the sky’s apparent rotation, or selecting a different view by pinching or dragging. Tapping small but recognizable images of the sun, moon, planets (including Pluto), the Hubble and the International Space Station activates a printed label, an audio identification (except, oddly, for Pluto) and assorted facts (“Aries…is a porpoise in the Marshall Islands. Isn’t that fun?”). A select few come with a short animated history or description. Sixteen major stars and 49 constellations receive similar treatment, though only 24 of the latter have any audio element. All of the above can be found quickly using a visual index accessible from any screen. Less usefully, tapping hundreds of other, unindexed stars reveals their names but no further information. The Milky Way, visible nebulae and the Andromeda Galaxy are not included. Refreshingly, there are no ads, in-app purchases or links to social media.

This guide to the heavens is cool for browsing, but it is too unsystematic for sustained research. (Requires iOS 7 and above.) (iPad informational app. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2014

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Vito Technology, Inc.

Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014

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DIARY OF A SPIDER

by Doreen Cronin & illustrated by Harry Bliss ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 2005

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The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005

ISBN: 0-06-000153-4

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
LAWRENCE & SOPHIA
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin

- BOOK REVIEW
MAMA IN THE MOON
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin

- BOOK REVIEW
LAWRENCE & SOPHIA
by Doreen Cronin ; illustrated by Brian Cronin

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HENRY AND MUDGE AND THE STARRY NIGHT

From the Henry and Mudge series

by Cynthia Rylant & illustrated by Sucie Stevenson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1998

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Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)