booktalk Archives - Page 344 of 1356

BIG LIES: from Socrates to Social Media
by Mark Kurlansky (Author) and Eric Zelz (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Big lies are told by governments, politicians, and corporations to avoid responsibility, cast blame on the innocent, win elections, disguise intent, create chaos, and gain power and wealth. Yes, big lies are as old as civilization. They corrupt public understanding and discourse, turn science upside down, and reinvent history. They prevent humanity from addressing critical challenges. They perpetuate injustices. They destabilize the world.

The modern age has provided ever-more-effective ways of spreading lies, but it has also given us the scientific method, which is the most effective tool for finding what is true. In the book’s final chapter, find out how you can deconstruct an allegation. Ask if there is credible, testable evidence to support it. If not, suspect a lie. A scientific theory has to be testable, and so does an allegation. Then ask more questions! Who is the source? Who benefits? Is there a money trail? Especially in the age of social media, critical thinking counters lies and chaos. Are you ready to think for yourself?

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Anna Hibiscus
by Atinuke (Author) and Lauren Tobia (Illustrator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop

Booktalk: Anna Hibiscus lives in Africa, amazing Africa, with her mother and father, her twin baby brothers (Double and Trouble), and lots of extended family in a big white house with a beautiful garden in a compound in a city. Anna is never lonely–there are always cousins to play and fight with, aunties and uncles laughing and shouting, and parents and grandparents close by. Each chapter in this early chapter book tells a different story as Anna Hibiscus goes on a seaside vacation, helps plan a party for Auntie Comfort from Canada (will she remember her Nigerian ways?), learns firsthand what it’s really like to be a child selling oranges outside the gate, and longs to see sweet snow.

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