Reviews for Marie Curie: Scientist Who Made Glowing Discoveries

The average rating for Marie Curie: Scientist Who Made Glowing Discoveries based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-11-29 00:00:00 Christina Cross Title: Marie Curie Author: Mike Venezia Pages: 32 Lexile level: 840 Recommendations & Comments: ___5 out of 5 stars Recommendations: Author Mike Venezia delivers an accessible biography of scientist Marie Curie who discovered two chemical elements - polonium and radium. What made these two elements unique was the rays of energy, known as radiation, that they gave off. I like this book because Venezia provides understandable explanations of the science behind Curie's discoveries while highlighting both known and lesser-known details of her personal life. Comical illustrations supplement historical photos and text, making for a fun and informative read. Reviewed By: Roger Burns

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-04 00:00:00 Mike Thompson Mike Venezia has turned his short biographies into an entire cottage industry, churning them out like non-fiction lace doilies or biographical jars of jam. The text is extremely good, very informative, and a good introduction to the subject. My only quibble is his cartoons. His format is that each volume has a cartoon on the cover, and often it's just not funny. Worse, it is then repeated on the inside, slightly modified and with a different punchline...and it's still not funny. This volume has "humorous" cartoons about subjects ranging from the oppression of the Poles by the Russian Czars to the dangerous effects of radiation, interspersed with ones which are actually mildly amusing. I know he's a cartoonist, but in this series, he needs an editor who can tell him when a joke is falling flat. In his volume on Dr. Charles Drew, famous for his work on blood transfusions, Venezia includes not one, but two stale vampire jokes, both with punchlines that don't quite work. On the positive side, these books can be shown to kids who don't want to read a long book on the person, but just want an overview. Also, they're good for helping kids to decide on a topic for a report, since the Venezia books can be easily read in one short sitting. So, if you can get past a few cringeworthy cartoons, these books are great.