Kevin Hawkes

Aside from the fact that even by the end of the book I couldn't consistently pronounce "Eratosthenes" correctly, my kids and I loved this one. Simple, thorough explanation of how Eratosthenes measured the circumference of Earth, and I love how it promotes following one's interests and continuing to research and ask questions even when the answers aren't readily available. I had no idea so much went on at the museum at Alexandria.

Excellent children’s nonfiction book. The writing is creative and reads like a story. The details in both the text and images are amazingly accurate and make learning about Eratosthenes enjoyable. The book would be a great introduction to math concepts of measurement and geometry. The book could also be used to learn about ancient Greek and Egyptian culture.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. There's various art styles throughout that I found engaging, but I most enjoyed that even with a predictable ending- the story was told in such a way that I didn't mind. There's a surprisingly large amount of words on each page to truly flesh out the story but is balanced nicely with the artwork that covers each page. When I first opened the book and began reading, I truly had no idea where the story was going and that's what really sold this book for show more me. Once the story picked up, I could predict the ending but I feel that's more a result of age than the plot being flat- children would easily fall into the dramatics brought forward. This story features Lulu, the orphaned dog of a portraiture painter as she crosses paths with Remy, the nomadic starving artist. Remy paints the 'essence' instead of the person- usually resulting in a colorful abstraction of what was seen. Whereas Lulu knows how to do portraiture painting like her previous owner, leaving us to follow her and Remy's artistic journeys contrasting their friendship. Flipping from page 7 where Lulu is painting, to page 8, faced with a hyperrealistic portrait was a moment that I genuinely laughed at. The big idea of this book appears to be the power of friendship as well as a 'beauty in the eye of the beholder' trope. When Remy gives up on painting upon feeling undervalued, Lulu is there through it all to remind him to return to his abstract artistic origins- and he finally sees the beauty in it [painting] again. show less

I have been looking for a copy of this book to purchase for many years. I first read it when I found it at the local library in Michigan when my older children were small. About five years ago, I remembered it, but couldn’t find it anywhere until one day I noticed it on a friend’s bookshelf. Now, I’m delighted to have my own copy! I read it to my youngest last evening, and she really enjoyed it. This is a wonderful way to talk about geometry, geography, and history—all wrapped up in show more a delightful story with great illustrations. show less