(3) K-3 How It Works series. With Sheila Keenan. Macaulay places a discussion of the biology of the eye and the physics of sight in the context of a game of soccer. As a girl uses her eyes to play, concepts including the eye's structure and how light enters the eye and travels through the lens are covered. The illustrations use creative perspectives to showcase the science. This edition appears to be sized a bit larger than the original. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) 4-6 Checkerboard How-To Library: Cool Art with Math & Science series. Color photographs and diagrams combine with simple texts to explain the featured mathematical or scientific concept. Brief introductions to the topics are followed by four art projects that turn theory into practical application. Sidebars provide supply lists, applicable terms, and photographs to complement the step-by-step instructions. The overuse of exclamation points in the texts is unfortunate. Glos., ind. Review covers these Cool Art with Math & Science titles: Cool Flexigon Art, Cool Optical Illusions, Cool Paper Folding, and Cool String Art.

Reviewer: Tamara DePasquale

(3) K-3 My Readers series. With Sheila Keenan. Macaulay places a discussion of the biology of the eye and the physics of sight in the context of a game of soccer. As a girl uses her eyes to play, concepts including the eye's structure, how light enters the eye and travels through the lens, and how images are interpreted are covered. The illustrations use creative perspectives to showcase the science. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) K-3 In this inventive book illustrated with flat, cartoony art, an exterior view (e.g., of an elementary school) shows figures silhouetted in windows (schoolchildren ostensibly studying). The next page reveals the building's surprising interior (because the drinking fountain overflowed, the kids are rowing a canoe inside). The exterior-interior contrasts grow repetitive, but each pairing yields a worthy reminder that first impressions can deceive.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(4) 4-6 Illustrated by Frances Zweifel. Scientific concepts behind tricks that play with our perception of motion, depth, shape, and size are revealed in this well-organized experimental guide. Although the layout is cramped and gray, with dark line drawings and diagrams, the book contains complete directions for making a wide variety of optical illusions, each matched with concise explanations of how particular illusions occur. Ind.

Reviewer: Jim St. Claire

(3) 4-6 Page after page of visual images demonstrate how the eye and brain can be confused by tricky perspectives, varicolored patterns, and comparative lines and shapes. Most of the illusions can be appreciated at first glance, though some--including a zootrope and flip book--require the reader to do some photocopying, cutting, and pasting. Scientific explanations for the illusions are provided in this browsable volume. Ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta

(2) K-3 A scatterbrained inventor has a mishap with every turn of the page. The episodic plot serves as a springboard for a set of lessons on color theory and optical illusions. Playful cut-paper collage, accented by loose black line drawings, work well to illustrate most of these concepts. Priceman provides simple explanations (in small print) within the story, wisely waiting until the end to explain the more mysterious and complex effects.

Reviewer: Lolly Robinson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2001

(3) PS Vibrant color photographs are used to show how the whole is indeed the sum of its parts. Double-page spreads depict a series of photographs of "parts" of an object or person. On the succeeding spread, the complete object is shown. Young children will easily guess the simple puzzles and identify familiar objects, and the rhyming text provides an additional clue.

Reviewer: CHristine Sarrazin

(1) 4-6 Using the familiar story of "Little Red Riding Hood" as a touchstone, Bang translates characters and situations into abstract shapes, exploring the range of emotions that can be elicited by the interplay of shapes, sizes, and colors on a page. Now available in hardcover, the book has been redesigned, enlarged, and features a new preface.

Reviewer: The Horn Book, Inc. | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 1992

(1) 4-6 Wick's elegant yet bold style of photography is ideally suited for the task of visual deception. The illusions range from simple mirror and geometric paradoxes to Escher-like visual trickery. Paired with each full-page color photo are well-matched descriptions that point the observer to key elements of the illusions. The book provides scientific concepts that are rigorous without diminishing the intrigue and fun.

Reviewer: Daniel Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 1998