Book Review: My Wild Life: Adventures of a Wildlife Photographer by Suzi Eszterhas
Early Book Review: What Breathes Through Its Butt?: Mind-Blowing Science Questions Answered by Emily Grossman, Alice Bowsher
Early Book Review: How to Hold Animals by Toshimitsu Matsuhashi
How to Hold Animals by Toshimitsu Matsuhashi is a non fiction book for children and adults alike that want to learn from the experts (a pet shop owner, a veterinarian, a wildlife photographer, and a reptile handler) about how to pick up and hold dozens of species of animals. From great to small, furry, scaly, and feathery, including snails, chipmunks, chickens, chinchillas, stag beetles, lizards, hamsters, owls, grasshoppers, mice, and more. Chock full of fascinating facts, interviews with experts, and full-color photos on every page. It is currently scheduled for release on November 3 2020.
Early Book Review: A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Sami Bayly
Early Book Review: The Book of Mythical Beasts and Magical Creatures by Stephen Krensky, Pham Quang Phuc
Audiobook Review: Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items by J.W. Ocker, Narrated by Tim Campbell
Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items, written by J.W. Ocker and narrated by Tim Campbell, details strange but true stories of the world's most infamous items. It will appeal to true believers as well as history buffs, horror fans, and anyone who loves a good spine-tingling tale. They're lurking in museums, graveyards, and private homes. Their often tragic and always bizarre stories have inspired countless horror movies, reality TV shows, novels, and campfire tales. They're cursed objects, and all they need to unleash a wave of misfortune is you. Many of these unfortunate items have intersected with some of the most notable events and people in history, leaving death and destruction in their wake. But never before have the true stories of these eerie oddities been compiled into a fascinating and chilling volume.
Cursed Objects is a very entertaining and well researched book. I have a love for the weird, spooky, and just plan strange things in the world. From wacky bits of nature and strange history to the things people believe about themselves and the world. This book did a great job or giving well researched information, and sharing the lore around objects while making sure the difference between what is known and what is speculation is shown. There was also a healthy does of, who knows and you might as well be careful in there too. I liked the organization of the book by type of object, and thought that a great deal of reading, listening, and travel went into getting the research done for this book. Some of the objects were well known to me, and are likely to be at least known about by anyone that picks up a book on this subject matter. However, I also learned new details about those items, and learned about some things that I had need heard of before. There was a good deal of insight that made this a fully engaging read. I also like that the author took the subject matter seriously, but not so seriously that humor is left behind. There is a good deal of tongue and cheek commentary and pop culture references that actually made me chuckle out loud as I was listening to the book. I even let my teenage listen to it with me, and we both enjoyed it.
Cursed Objects is and intriguing and well narrated book. I was fascinated and entertain through the entire listen. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the subject matter, or even vaguely curious about cursed objects.
Early Book Review: 100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More by Sarah Kieffer
Early Book Review: A Garden in Your Belly: Meet the Microbes in Your Gut by Masha D'yans
A Garden in Your Belly is a colorfully illustrated book that helps explain to young readers how important the microbiome that lives inside of all of is. The important information is written in a way that is accessible and nonthreatening, because learning that a bunch of little things live inside you could be scary to some readers. I think the artwork helps keep the tone light and fun, and still shows the danger of not taking care of our gut health without being over the top. The message is very well conveyed, and I think it is well done. I really enjoyed the more in depth information at the end of the book, interesting facts, and the glossary included in the end pages. I think this book would be a good addition to school, library, and classroom shelves. It would also be a good tool in households where someone might have digestive health problems, that make this information even more important and relevant.
Early Book Review: Living Fossils: Survivors from Earth's Distant Past by Rebecca E. Hirsch
Book Review: The Mysteries of the Universe: Discover the best-kept secrets of space by DK Children
Book Review: The Moon: A Beginner’s Guide to Lunar Features and Photography by James Harrop
Book Review: Life Through Time: The 700-Million-Year Story of Life on Earth by John Woodward
Life Through Time: The 700-Million-Year Story of Life on Earth by John Woodward is a book that uses panoramic images to tell the story of life on Earth, from its earliest origins to the present day. The amazing story of life's evolution begins in vast oceans and swamp forests and is shaken by dramatic extinctions caused by ice, violent volcanic eruptions, and meteor impacts. It explores geological time and the origins of species that still exist today in early fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and mammals. It takes readers up to the appearance of our first human ancestors around 6 million years ago, the evolution of hunter-gathering Homo sapiens in the Ice Age, Stone Age farmers, the earliest civilization in Mesopotamia, the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world, and people living with nature in the modern world.
Book Review: Scientists Who Dared to Be Different by Emily Holland
Scientists Who Dared to Be Different by Emily Holland is an illustrated nonfiction book that tells the stories of 16 pioneering figures of strikingly different backgrounds. People of varied ethnicity, nationality, gender, lifestyle, and wealth. What they all have in common - other than their genius - is their bravery, their resilience, and their ability to think beyond the bounds of established convention. The scientists talked about include Valentina Tereshkova, the extraordinary first woman in space, Marie Sklodowska Curie, the great pioneer of radioactivity, and first person to win two Nobel prizes. Galileo Galilei, the great physicist who bravely stood by his cosmic theories in the face of the Roman Inquisition. Katherine Johnson, the "human computer" who played a key part in NASA's space program and Stephen Hawking, the world-famous physicist who overcame physical paralysis to transform our understanding of black holes.
Scientists Who Dared to Be Different is a well rounded collection of ten to fifteen page biographies of these sixteen scientists. I liked that the scientists chosen were a blend of well known individuals and those that do not receive much recognition. The scientists profiled here also have a good deal of variety. They are from different genders, races, background, and so on. Mental health and society obstacles they faced were touched on, and I think the book does a good job of taking these names (both familiar and not) and making the people real and relatable. While those topics can be hard, the author did a good job of keeping the important aspects of these scientist's lives in the narrative while being completely age appropriate and accessible to young readers. The book can be read as a whole, or by taking it a scientist at a time. The illustrations are crisp and add visual interest to the page.
I think this would be a great addition to a school or classroom library, or for a child already interested in science or reading biographical material.