Category Archives: Book Reviews

Some more reading ideas…

The PolyBlog
January 15 2023

Chapters/Indigo has their Reading Challenge for the year too. They do it up like a bingo card, but the headings are:

I’ll have to go through some of the links to see if there’s anything I want to add to my long list. 🙂

Space by Sarah Creese (2011) – BR00220 (2022) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
November 20 2022

Plot or Premise This is part of the “First Encyclopedia” series focusing on Space. It is aimed at young readers up to early middle grade. The book is high on pictures and low on text, with about 200 words on the universe, galaxies, the solar system, the Sun, the Earth and Moon, Mercury/Venus/Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, space exploration, satellites, and the International Space Station. What I Liked The section on galaxies includes the standard prose and big pics of the Milky Way, but it also incudes a pic of the Milky Way above mountains (a night landscape) and … Continue reading →

Weather and Space by Helen Young and Chris Oxlade (2010) – BR00219 (2022) – 🐸🐸⚪⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 12 2022

Plot or Premise Part of an Interactive Explorer series, this book is aimed at kids, and includes flaps, pull tabs, wheels and acetates. The book is divided into two, with Section 1 aimed at the weather. It covers weather extremes, changing climate, floods, droughts, winds, big storms, thunder and hail, and extreme snow. What I Liked I was mainly reviewing the text to see what they shared about space in Section 2 for younger grades. Overall, it covers the night sky, star maps, suns and stars, the life of a star, constellations, galaxies, planets, the moon, smaller bodies, and exploring … Continue reading →

Observer’s Handbook, 2023 by RASC (2022) – BR00218 (2022) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

The PolyBlog
November 11 2022

Plot or Premise The RASC Observer’s Handbook is the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s annual guide to help amateur astronomers with their hobby for the coming year. James Edgar is the editor of the annual edition. In the interest of full disclosure for my review, I am an active member of RASC Canada and have interacted with the editor online infrequently over the last few years. Review The guide is an obvious challenge to produce, as the level of the observers who buy it varies so widely. You have newbies who may not even have a telescope yet, but who … Continue reading →

Sprinting Through No Man’s Land by Adin Dobkin (2021) – BR00217 (2022) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸⚪

The PolyBlog
October 31 2022

Plot or Premise The book provides an overview of the first Tour de France after WWI. What I Liked I was skeptical when I first chose the book. It showed up as a recommendation in a feed, but was I really going to read about the Tour de France? I am NOT a giant sports fan in general, and certainly not of cycling, nor even of the TdF, although I’ve always been impressed by the idea of it. A gruelling multi-day race, different terrain, and extensive coverage are truly, ahem, impressive. But would I like a book about the first … Continue reading →