Kidbits - Hardcover

Rezensionen

Grade 4-7-From child mortality rates to best-selling videos, teen drug use to Ben & Jerry's top 10 flavors, this compendium of statistical information, gathered from cited surveys, government reports, and other sources, is almost entirely composed of pie and bar charts made with an array of brightly colored icons and graphics. Though there is some overlap with its heftier, more encyclopedic progenitor, The New View Almanac (Blackbirch, 1996), both the simplified presentations and a concerted effort to choose topics of interest to younger children will assure a different audience. The 17 sections include not only plenty of fodder for reports, but also such need-to-know items as recent MTV and other media-award winners, children's thoughts on the best parts about having a cold, and the most common complaints teachers and teens have about one another. Some of the information is dated ("U.S. Teens Favorite TV Shows, 1996," "Best-Selling CD-ROM Titles in the U.S., 1995"), but the emphasis on visual presentation makes for easier comprehension, and if some of the data raises more questions than it settles (why, for instance, did 8% of regular church goers respond "None" when asked their religion?) that's all to the good. Capped by an extensive index that includes both proper names and topics, this will be a well-thumbed addition to reference collections.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.