Tag Archives: stand-alone

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 space. All are good topics for those new to space.

What I Didn’t Like

The added features seem out of place in the book — the text is written for middle-school level or a bit below who would find the features childish, while the “features” are more suited to early grades who wouldn’t understand the text. For the space section, the order makes no sense. We start off with big areas, come into the sun, back out to stars and DSOs, back down to the solar system moon, and back out to small bodies.

The Bottom Line

Poor design and odd choice of organization for the space section

    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 →

    The Twelve Apostles by William J. Coughlin (2016) – BR00190 (2020) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

    The PolyBlog
    March 25 2020

    An elite law firm in NYC has 12 full partners, nicknamed the Apostles, and various members wheel and deal with big business clients as an opening comes available.

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    The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (2018) – BR00189 (2020) – 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

    The PolyBlog
    March 22 2020

    A woman dies at a party at a country resort, the solution obvious. But she was actually murdered, and a guest must solve the crime or never leave. Because the same day repeats each day, and each day the guest is in the body of someone else. He has seven chances to get it right.

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    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925) – BR00187 (2020) – 🐸🐸🐸⚪⚪

    The PolyBlog
    March 20 2020

    A man observes the comings and goings of a 1920s party host who is both his neighbor and a paramour of his cousin.

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