Review by Booklist Review
This companion book to Hartland's How the Sphinx Got to the Museum (2010) and How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum (2011) opens with a class field trip, but it quickly backtracks when a student asks how a meteorite got to the museum. On Friday, October 9, 1992, a four-billion-year-old meteor entered Earth's atmosphere over Kentucky, streaked across the skies along the East Coast, and crashed through the trunk of a teenager's car in Peekskill, New York. The police examined it, firefighters cooled it with water, a geologist identified it, the museum's curator of meteors obtained it, a cosmologist discussed it, and the exhibits team displayed it. Through a combination of narrative text, speech balloons, and cumulative lines using the familiar This Is the House That Jack Built pattern, Hartland infuses the dynamic story with human interest as well as easy-to-absorb information. Illustrated with eye-catching paintings in a vivid, naive style, this picture book adds another dimension to Hartland's fine Got to the Museum series.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Having previously explained how Egyptian and prehistoric artifacts arrived in museum displays in How the Sphinx Got to the Museum and How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum, Hartland goes for a hat trick. This time, a science teacher traces a meteor's billions of years spent in space before it entered Earth's atmosphere (thereby becoming a meteorite) and eventually landed near Peekskill, N.Y., in 1992. Hartland reprises the cumulative structure of the earlier books; after the meteorite crashes into a red Chevy Malibu, police arrive to investigate the meteorite "discovered by the teenager, recorded by sports fans, spotted by Virginians, and howled at by the dog as it bolted toward the Earth." A geologist later confirms the meteorite's legitimacy, and the meteorite comes to find a (partial) home at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (the aforementioned teenager went on to sell slices of the meteorite to other buyers, as well, an afterword notes). Exuberant typography, playful paintings, and accessible prose all help Hartland's account make an impact. Ages 6-9. Agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Employing the cumulative narrative style used in How the Sphinx Got to the Museum (2010) and How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum (2011, both Blue Apple ), Hartland explains how the Peekskill Meteorite traveled from space to Earth, eventually finding a permanent place in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The artwork has a naive, folk-art quality, reminiscent of the work of Simms Taback and Grandma Moses. The attractive, colorful illustrations will appeal to children. Back matter includes information on Dr. Mark Anders, the first scientist who viewed the meteorite in Peekskill, and additional facts about meteorites. This engaging work is well suited for reading aloud or for budding geologists, scientists, or curators. As the Common Core State Standards place increased emphasis on nonfiction for young students, this groundbreaking effort fits the bill and does it well.-Ellie Lease, Harford County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In her third behind-the-scenes museum book, Hartland describes the origins of a slice of meteorite displayed in the American Museum of Natural History. She cumulatively introduces the myriad people who encountered the meteorite, from the teenager whose car was damaged by its falling to the exhibits team who prepared space for it. Informative text and humorously detailed paintings complete the lively presentation. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Hartland follows up earlier titles about museum acquisitions of an ancient Egyptian sphinx and remains of a dinosaur with a lively new one based on the travels of the Peekskill meteorite to the American Museum of Natural History With a catchy, cumulative "House That Jack Built"like refrain, a science teacher chronicles for her students the travels of a meteoroid from outer space to the atmosphere over the United States, across several states, into a parked car in Peekskill, N.Y., and on to the museum. Text introducing the various role-players is set on double-page spreads of childlike paintings full of interesting details. The meteor zips across the sky past a barking dog in Kentucky, sports fans with cameras in Pennsylvania and on down through a teenager's parked car, where various officials investigate. Finally, there are the museum employees who identify, acquire, explain and display it. Each participant's title is written in capital letters and given a recognizable typeface and color. The verbs in the refrain vary intriguingly: The dog barks, yelps, woofs, howls, ruffs, arfs, yips and yaps. The backmatter includes more about the history of this particular meteorite and meteorites in general. This lighthearted, behind-the-scenes look at museum work does double duty as a much-needed introduction to meteorites: most children's closest possible connection to outer space. (Informational picture book. 6-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
