APPLES

Name: APPLES
Author: Jacqueline Farmer
ISBN: 978-1-57091-694-6

by Jacqueline Farmer ; illustrated by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2007

Apples are a perennial favorite for fall eating, teacher gifts and back-to-school primary science units. Farmer’s contribution covers apple varieties, how they grow, nutrition, apple history, a list of fun facts and, of course (nearly every apple book has one), a recipe for apple pie. (Why not apple cobbler? Apple brown betty? Applesauce?) Two problems keep this volume from being as useful as similar titles. First, there’s no story—the information is presented sequentially within each subtopic, but there’s no overall flow. Second, there’s too much information for primary grades, while not being enough for upper-level students, who’ve probably moved beyond apples, anyway. Two pages discuss grafting and scions in a manner that will likely confuse younger readers. Half as much information, presented more clearly, would have made a better book. For libraries wanting a lot of facts about apples, this might work, but teachers below grade three should look elsewhere. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)

Pub Date: July 1, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-57091-694-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2007

Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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Informative, empowering, and fun.

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ROX'S SECRET CODE

by Mara Lecocq & Nathan Archambault ; illustrated by Jessika von Innerebner ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 6, 2018

Girl power abounds in this book about coding that introduces young readers to the world of programming while offering them hands-on activities via a companion app.

In this title that was first introduced as a customizable, personalized print-on-demand product, Rox has a superpower. Using code, she programs toy robots that can do things like make broccoli disappear—or mischief. When Dad tells Rox to clean her room, she quickly thinks up a bot that will do it for her, writing code that instructs her bot to use artificial intelligence to sort objects by color and type. Though Rox knows that there’s a high potential for her creation to rebel, the perks outweigh any potential adverse effects. Rox’s robot has her room neat and tidy in no time—and then the entire home. Chorebot’s AI allows it to keep learning, and it seems Chorebot can do no wrong until the robot decides to rearrange the entire city (both buildings and people) by type, style, and gender. Chorebot goes “out of his artificial mind!” Rox must now stop her creation…without the assistance of the internet. The artwork, styled in the tradition of popular superhero series, is peppy and colorful, and it depicts Rox as an adorable black girl donning a black bomber jacket and a pink tutu. A companion app (not available for review) allows readers to create a bot of their own.

Informative, empowering, and fun. (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-57687-899-6

Page Count: 40

Publisher: POW!

Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018

Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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HELLO, HARVEST MOON

by Ralph Fletcher & illustrated by Kate Kiesler ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2003

As atmospheric as its companion, Twilight Comes Twice, this tone poem pairs poetically intense writing with luminescent oils featuring widely spaced houses, open lawns, and clumps of autumnal trees, all lit by a huge full moon. Fletcher tracks that moon’s nocturnal path in language rich in metaphor: “With silent slippers / it climbs the night stairs,” “staining earth and sky with a ghostly glow,” lighting up a child’s bedroom, the wings of a small plane, moonflowers, and, ranging further afield, harbor waves and the shells of turtle hatchlings on a beach. Using creamy brushwork and subtly muted colors, Kiesler depicts each landscape, each night creature from Luna moths to a sleepless child and her cat, as well as the great moon sweeping across star-flecked skies, from varied but never vertiginous angles. Closing with moonset, as dawn illuminates the world with a different kind of light, this makes peaceful reading either in season, or on any moonlit night. (Picture book. 6-8)