134,742
edits
Changes
Discover the Extreme World by Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele (view source)
Revision as of 08:48, 21 September 2011
, 08:48, 21 September 2011no edit summary
In my day it would have been called ''an encyclopaedia''. It would have had a lot more text, been rather dull – and remained largely unread by those who received it as a worthy present. For 'Discover the Extreme World' you need to start at the opposite end of the scale. It's about visual impact. A fact is linked to a picture and the more striking the better – and only then is it explained. The text is as simple as possible – clear, unambiguous wording which drives the point home as quickly as possible. The layout encourages you to move the book so that you see the pictures better and can read the words. It's fun and (say it quietly) it's educational.
If you're wondering what's so extreme, it's really quite simple. You take a subject and you look at its extremes. The first subject is ''Active Earth'' and you'll be taken on a trip through those things which come to earth, from space, volcanoes, mountains, tectonic plates, temperature extremes, earthquakes, rivers, erosion, caverns, mineral deposits, the depths of the oceans, winds, the polar regions and the earth's driest places.
The information is up-to-date and relevant. There's reference to the volcanic eruptions of 2010 and the resulting ash clouds. Children will remember what happened and see the relevance to ''their'' lives. It's not something which happened in prehistoric times before even Grandma was born. There's no dumbing down and it's never patronising. The section on ''Active Earth'' is just one of six (along with Awesome Animals, Incredible Science, Ultimate Machines, Super Humans and History Revealed) and they're all written to the same standard. There's also an excellent index – and it's good to get pre-teens used to the idea of using an index. With a book like this they'll do it willingly.