Review by Booklist Review
Microbiologist and illustrator Radeva offers young readers an adapted and illustrated version of this seminal work. After identifying several Darwin contemporaries who also studied natural selection, the author notes Darwin's HMS Beagle expedition, and points to the 20 years he spent refining and recording his ideas. She defines species (pointing out the individual variations they exhibit) and notes that permanent species change can occur as a result of natural selection or intentional breeding. She also touches upon survival of the fittest and extinction; describes the concept of common ancestors; explains why fossils are so rare; observes how instinctual behaviors such as migration are also tied to evolution; and clarifies the ways in which similar features (such as leg bones) may present differently (i.e., fins) in some species. The text is brief, allowing the detailed, often patterned illustrations to serve as a visual narrative. The layout is particularly appealing, utilizing captioned art, speech balloons, and short quotations from the original that provide readers with a good grounding on this topic. Appended with an author's note, explanations of recent scientific discoveries that differ from Darwin's ideas, a glossary, and clarifications of Darwinism misconceptions, this is a beautiful introduction to a complex topic that should find a wide audience.--Kay Weisman Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Radeva introduces the story of evolution through accessible, picture-filled spreads. "Since life on Earth began, tiny organisms, plants and animals have been changing slowly, over millions of years." The text briefly presents a smartly suited Charles Darwin, his journeys aboard the HMS Beagle, and the observations that resulted in the publication of his magnum opus. Animals shown in chalky, stylized art (Radeva takes a primarily nonnaturalistic approach) are used to illustrate complex concepts such as species, variations, competition, and natural selection. One spread depicts gray wolves in an ornately rendered nighttime forest opposite several domesticated dog breeds. Quotes from Darwin are also integrated throughout. While the book may not help readers fully grasp the incremental nature of evolutionary change, it is a welcome primer on the topic. Ages 4--8. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An introduction for younger readers to the major ideas in a seminal work of science.Radeva, a graphic designer with a background in molecular biology, uses a combination of simply phrased statements and short quotes to boil down Darwin's main notions about variety among both wild and domesticated animals, the struggle for existence that drives the process of natural selection, the development of instinct and of complex organs over long spans of time, and the anatomical resemblances in seemingly disparate species that point to common ancestries. Studiously avoiding mention of religion ("For most of human history, many people believed that everything on the world was created all at once"), she sketches out the genesis of Darwin's thesis with nods to Buffon and Lamarck, brings his theories up to the present with discussions of epigenetics and other recent evolutionary insights, then closes with rebuttals to select "Misconceptions" about Darwinism's precepts. Opening and closing with dozens of labeled butterflies and other insects on the endpapers, the illustrations feature gatherings of nave-style flora and (mostly) fauna, drawn in minimal but precise detail and lit with bright, clear colors. Human figuresbeginning with Adam and Eve in leafy garb and ending, except for a few vignettes, with an evolutionary line leading up to the white-bearded scientist himselfdefault to white.Cogent review of some landmark ideas, now seemingly obvious but once revolutionary. (author's note, bibliography, glossary) (Informational picture book. 8-11) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
