Sleek design coupled with engaging images and information make this a winner for curious kids.
A visual compendium spanning a broad array of topics.
Vibrant photography, bright illustrations, and clear diagrams distinguish this beginner’s encyclopedia, which covers a wide range of topics divided into 10 broad sections: “All About You,” “Down to Earth,” “Big Wide World,” “From the Ground Up,” “Creature Feature,” “Dino-Roar!,” “Time Machine,” “Bright Ideas,” “Things That Zoom!,” and “Out of This World.” Each section is divided into focused chapters where the information is organized into logical chunks. Visuals dominate the full-color two-page spreads, which contain short paragraphs and text boxes that are jam-packed with fun facts and trivia. For example, the third chapter, which focuses on maps, offers the tidbit that “Vietnam is home to the world’s largest cave. Some parts of Son Doong are so big that a skyscraper could fit inside. A river flows through it, and a rainforest grows there, too!” The thoughtful layout includes color-coded chapter headings and topic icons that match the table of contents, allowing for quick identification and easy browsing. The text is appropriate for different reading levels: The book uses simpler vocabulary in a larger font size for labels and headers, while the longer explanations are suited for stronger readers or for adults to read aloud. The human figures in the illustrations and photographs are diverse in race and ethnicity.
Sleek design coupled with engaging images and information make this a winner for curious kids. (glossary, additional reading, tips for parents, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781426374029
Page Count: 272
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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