STEM-centric learning at its most pun-tastic.
Young Jacob’s birthday (on March 14, also known as Pi Day) brings an irrationally exuberant celebration of pi and its many arithmetical uses.
Actually, light-skinned, blond Jacob spends much of his day in high dudgeon; everyone seems less focused on him than on making puns. “Your pie are squared!” laughs his light-skinned mom, handing him a breakfast toaster pastry while his darker-skinned dad bolts out the door because a baker “can’t be late on Pi Day!” It’s the same in school, with his teacher announcing that Albert Einstein was born on March 14 (“Pisces!”) and leading the class in using the “magic” number both for calculations and craft activities. The jokes would probably land most solidly for readers already conversant with the irrational number, but, leaving no pun unturned, Van Draanen definitely displays a rare knack for wordplay. She also slips in simple exercises and projects for intrigued younger readers both during the story and at the end. For the author’s revelation that pi is an infinitely long number, Li supplies a spiraling line of digits shrinking evocatively away to dots amid images of a racially diverse class busily measuring, constructing a color-coded paper chain and other visual aids, enjoying “pizza pi,” and then throwing a surprise party for the gobsmacked Jacob at his father’s bakery—complete with a table full of birthday pies. (“I prefer cake,” mutters Albert in a closing cameo.)
STEM-centric learning at its most pun-tastic. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2027
ISBN: 9780593375969
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the...
Using science and technology, third-grader Ada Lace kicks off her new series by solving a mystery even with her leg in a cast.
Temporarily housebound after a badly executed bungee jump, Ada uses binoculars to document the ecosystem of her new neighborhood in San Francisco. She records her observations in a field journal, a project that intrigues new friend Nina, who lives nearby. When they see that Ms. Reed’s dog, Marguerite, is missing, they leap to the conclusion that it has been stolen. Nina does the legwork and Ada provides the technology for their search for the dognapper. Story-crafting takes a back seat to scene-setting in this series kickoff that introduces the major players. As part of the series formula, science topics and gadgetry are integrated into the stories and further explained in a “Behind the Science” afterword. This installment incorporates drones, a wireless camera, gecko gloves, and the Turing test as well as the concept of an ecosystem. There are no ethnic indicators in the text, but the illustrations reveal that Ada, her family, and bratty neighbor Milton are white; Nina appears to be Southeast Asian; and Mr. Peebles, an inventor who lives nearby, is black.
The story feels a bit contrived, but Ada will be a welcome addition to the small circle of science-loving girls in the chapter-book world. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 29, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4814-8599-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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