50 Burning Questions

December 1, 2010
Grades 4-8 In many ways, the history of fire is a history of everything, as this cheeky book explains in scattershot, browsable chunks. Broken up into loose chapters, the questions cover how integral fire has been to nearly the entirety of human endeavor, from technology to religion to food to communication. Cleverly, the book even gets into the abstractions of fiery emotions, sparks of social protest, and fires explosive place at the heart of conflict and war. The questions are often constructed to tease the mini essays they introduce (Who was the first hairy potter? posits theories of how ceramics may have come about), and others flat-out eschew sense even when they lead into interesting topics (Do raccoons carry fire extinguishers? irreverently gets into natures self-sustaining ability to extinguish forest fires, albeit through things like snowfall, not furry firefighters). On each spread, cartoon illustrations work to keep the tone light, and a handful of activities reinforce some basic science concepts. All in all, a fun and informative book for anyone fascinated by fire, which means pretty much everyone.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)