A flight of fancy—and facts—sure to set aspiring scientists’ imaginations soaring.
The tale of a well-traveled piece of cloth.
Intended to be made into women’s underwear, a bolt of unbleached muslin was purchased by the Wright Brothers in 1903 to cover the wings of the Flyer, which became the first airplane in history to fly. Later, the cloth was cut into swatches and donated to a museum. But this cloth still had journeys to make. One swatch flew to the moon in 1969 in a pouch carried by Neil Armstrong. In 2020, another swatch traveled to Mars with the Rover Perseverance and, in 2021, flew with the helicopter Ingenuity, “the first experimental aircraft sent to another planet.” This charming story is brought to life by Roth’s witty illustrations. He sets photos provided by NASA and the National Air and Space Museum against sepia backgrounds, adding cartoon figures and an appealingly personified flying piece of cloth. Laced with moments of wry humor, the text clearly describes each flight and builds drama and suspense by suggesting that after each adventure, the cloth would finally have a rest—and then promptly upending that assumption. The final spread reminds readers of these three history-making flights and shows an imagined scene of the Wright brothers standing on Mars and waving to Ingenuity. People of color appear in several of the photos.
A flight of fancy—and facts—sure to set aspiring scientists’ imaginations soaring. (author’s note, glossary of Perseverance instruments, bibliography, photo credits) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9780316525541
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
