Difference between revisions of "Newest Children's Non-Fiction Reviews"

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[[Category:Children's Non-Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Children's Non-Fiction]]
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==Children's non-fiction==
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1839948493
{{newreview
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|title=A World of Dogs
|author=Judy Bartkowiak
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|author=Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe
|title=NLP For Teens
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=It's not too long since I read [[Passing the 11+ with NLP: NLP Strategies for Supporting Your 11 Plus Student by Judy Bartkowiak and Carolyn Fitzpatrick]] and what impressed me most was that it was a great deal simpler and more user friendly than the phrase ''neuro-linguistic programming'' suggested, with its emphasis on building a child's self-esteem and easing the pressure all round, so I was delighted when Judy asked me if I would look at ''NLP For Teens''.  Many a parent has been tempted to leave home when their children were teenagers; difficult as it is for the parents it's a traumatic time for the teens and anything which makes it a little easier is to be applauded.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685901</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
 
|title=A Horrid Factbook: Horrid Henry's Bodies
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=When you eat or chew, did you know that little clumps of earwax fall out of your ears!  And in a lifetime you produce enough urine to fill about 450 baths!  Do you know how loud the loudest burp was?  Or what a bogey is made of?  If these are the sort of facts and figures, complete with a handful of Horrid Henry and Tony Ross' illustrations, that would rock your child's world then this is the book for you!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444001620</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ruthie Knapp and Jill McElmurry
 
|title=Who Stole Mona Lisa?
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=Taking in a history of its production, as well as its theft, ''Who Stole Mona Lisa?'' is an intriguing look at La Gioconda. The story is told from the point of view of Leonardo da Vinci's painting herself, and will strike a chord with any intelligent and curious youngsters.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408811588</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Melissa Wareham
 
|title=Take Me Home: Tales of Battersea Dogs
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Melissa Wareham always wanted a dog but her parents would never allow it and she didn't get good enough exam results for her next option – becoming a vet.  Not one to be deterred she joined the staff at Battersea Dogs Home, first as a kennel maid and eventually as the head of rehoming.  'Take Me Home' is the story of some of the highlights of her life at the home and some of the dogs which she met whilst she was there.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849413924</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Patrick Dillon and P J Lynch
 
|title=The Story of Britain
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Author Patrick Dillon has put together a clear, well-written and beautifully concise story of Britain, summing up the history of Britain and Ireland in a little over 320 pages. Significant events, ranging from the Norman Conquest to the South Sea Bubble, and groups of people ranging from highwaymen to the Romantic poets, are each dealt with in between 1 and 3 pages written in Dillon's chatty, easy to read style. There are also maps, including those of the D-Day
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|summary=In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I'm a sucker for dogs.  In nearly eight decades, I've never met one I didn't trust and I've loved most of them.  I wish I felt the same about human beings. So, any book about dogs, I'm going to sit down and devour.  Then I'm going to go back and read it properly. And so it was with ''A World of Dogs'', with ninety-six pages devoted entirely to my four-legged friends. Author Carlie Sorosiak found herself the accidental owner of an American Dingo - she's learned quite a lot about dogs since then.
landings and the Civil War battles, a timeline for each major period (Middle Ages, Tudors, Stuarts, Georgians, Victorians and Twentieth Century) and some gorgeous illustrations by former Kate Greenaway winner PJ Lynch.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406311928</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nina Grunfeld
 
|title=How To Get What You Want
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Teens
 
|summary=How To Get What You Want is a self help book aimed at young people 'at a crossroads in their life', who are unsure what to do next. The author is a Life Coach who recognises that simply knowing what you want to do is half the battle towards achieving it, and sets out to help the reader identify who they are and what they really want using self awareness type exercises like the 'Balance Chart'. Later on the book deals with how to achieve those goals by giving advice on how to focus and think positively.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406323845</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529507987
|author=Ruth Wickings and Frances Castle
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|title=The Repair Shop Craft Book
|title=Pop-Up: A Paper Engineering Masterclass
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|author=Walker Books and Sonia Albert (Illustrator)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=With its subtitle of ''A Paper Engineering Masterclass'', you know exactly what you're getting from ''Pop-Up''. You'll see how pop-up books are made, learn the tips of the trade, and make four elaborate 3D models yourself. If you're not rushing out to buy it immediately, there's something wrong with you!
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|summary=I love ''The Repair Shop''.  It's my go-to programme when I want to be cheered up.  After a hard day, there's nothing better than watching experts repair treasured items without ever mentioning what they're worth. You see, the value is in what these possessions are worth to the people who own them and the memories they hold.  No expense appears to be spared and the experts spend as much time and effort as is required to achieve the desired result. Regular viewers know the experts and they're all brilliant at explaining what it is they're doing.  But how did they start?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140633085X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=024162343X
|author=Wallace and Gromit
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|title=Stolen History
|title=Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention
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|author=Sathnam Sanghera
|rating=4
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=We don't have many rules around these 'ere parts, but one of them is that we don't review TV tie-in books. It's not snobbery; it's just that there's only so many books we have time to cover and TV covers itself quite nicely already. So I'm being naughty by reviewing ''Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'', but I don't care. I couldn't resist it! And Christmas is coming up, so you need some gift ideas, don't you?
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|summary=I was the bad company other people got into at school.  I was disruptive in religious education classes because I disputed the existence of a 'god'.  Where was the proof?  In history lessons, it was probably worse still.  Not too long after the end of WWII, I didn't so much want to learn about the British army's successes (and occasional failures, but we didn't dwell on those) in what came to be called 'the colonies' as want to dispute what right the army had to be there in the first place. Looking back, I still believe I was right - but I regret that I lacked the maturity to approach 'the problem' politely.  I wish I'd had Sathnam Sanghera's ''Stolen History''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007382189</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Jeremy Dronfield and David Ziggy Greene
|author=Alan James Brown
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|title=Fritz and Kurt
|title=The Tolpuddle Boy: Transported to Hell and Back
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=In 1834, six men from the Dorset village of Tolpuddle were deported to Australia for their trade union activities. This book, written in a very simple style for children, tells the true story of what happened to them, the politics of their arrest and deportation and the campaign by trade unionists and other supporters of trade union rights to overturn their convictions.
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|summary=We start with the pair of brothers Fritz and Kurt, and their muckers, doing things any Jewish lad in 1930s Vienna would want to do – kicking things around the empty market place, helping the neighbours, being dutiful when it comes to the synagogue choir and at a vocational school.  Kurt has to make sure the lamps are turned on at their very Orthodox neighbours' each Friday night – the Sabbath preventing them for using anything nearly as mechanical and workmanlike as a light switch.  But this is the time just before the Austrian leader is going to cave to Hitler's will, and instead of having a national vote to keep the Nazis out, invite them in with open arms.  ''Kristallnacht'' happened in Vienna just as much as in Germany, as did all the round-ups of Jews.  These in their turn leave the younger Kurt at home with his mother and sisters anxious to hear word of an evacuation to Britain or the US, while Fritz and his father are, unknown initially to each other, packed off on the same train to Buchenwald and the stone quarry there. And us wondering how the titular event for the adult variant of all this could come about…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905512775</amazonuk>
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|isbn=024156574X
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1913750353
|author=Ian Winton and Fred Pearce
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|title=Britannica's Word of the Day
|title=The Big Green Book
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|author=Patrick Kelly, Renee Kelly and Sue Macy
|rating=4
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Well, the title's right: it's big, it's green (in message, not colour) and it's a book. ''The Big Green Book'' is a super guide to environmental issues for young kids. It's packed to the brim with information, and has more flaps and pop-ups than you could shake a stick at.
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|summary=''Britannica's Word of the Day'' has a sub-title: ''366 Elevating Utterances to Stretch Your Cranium and Tickle Your Humerus'' which probably tells you all that you need to know about this brilliant book.   It starts on January 1st with ''Razzmatazz'', tells you how to pronounce it (''raz-muh-TAZ''), gives you a definition and then includes the word in a sentence so that you know how it should be used.  You also get an engaging and frequently amusing illustration too.  I don't think I've ever encountered a word which uses the letter Z four times before!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905811438</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0711266204
|author=Peter Der Manuelian
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|title=The Secret Life of Birds
|title=Hieroglyphs From A To Z
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|author=Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)
|rating=3.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=This look at hieroglyphs comes with stencils, so that children can write out their own coded messages. It's a simple introduction for any budding Egyptologists, and has a lot of additional information about Ancient Egypt to keep them interested.
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|summary=I have recently discovered a great pleasure: I sit and watch the vast numbers of birds which visit our garden on a daily basis.  An hour can pass without my noticing. I've established which species feed from the ground, which pop to the feeders for a quick snatch of some food and who settles in for a good munch but I wish I was more knowledgeable.  It would have been wonderful if, as a child, I'd had access to a book such as ''The Secret Life of Birds''. So – what is it?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0764953060</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0192779230
|author=James Mayhew
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Katie and the Waterlily Pond
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|author=Isabel Thomas
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=When Katie and Grandma are at the art gallery, they see there's a competition to paint a picture in the style of Monet. Grandma has a bit of a rest, whilst Katie goes off to look at the Monet exhibition for inspiration. When one of the paintings speaks to her - really speaks to her - she steps inside it and explores... Subtitled ''A Magical Journey Through Five Monet Masterpieces'', ''Katie and the Waterlily Pond'' is a wonderful introduction for children to art in general and Claude Monet in particular. They'll get a feel for ''In The Woods and Giverny'', ''Bathers at La Grenouill&#xE8;re'', ''Path Through the Poppies'', ''The Waterlily Pond'', and ''The Rue Montorgueil, Paris''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408304635</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony Browne
 
|title=Play The Shape Game
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You might have already played the shape game. It involves doing a squiggle on a piece of paper, then either you or someone else has to turn that squiggle into a full picture. Anthony Browne played it lots when he was little, and now he's playing it with 45 celebrities and you. Proceeds from the book and the auction of the artwork are going to [http://www.rainbowtrust.org.uk The Rainbow Trust Children's Charity], who provide emotional and practical support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness. A fantastic cause.
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|summary='Germs' seems to have become a catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you ill. In the first book in what looks to be a very promising new series, OUP and Isabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of germs.  We get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the thinking has developed over time. The vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 'speak like a scientist' which explains some of the trickiest concepts and you'll soon be familiar with bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses – and how we should protect ourselves.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406331317</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1800464495
|author=Vicki Myron and Brett Witter
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|title= 100 Ways in 100 Days to Teach Your Baby Maths: Support All Areas of Your Baby’s Development by Nurturing a Love of Maths
|title=Dewey: The True Story of a World-famous Library Cat
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|author=Emma Smith
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=This heart-warming book tells the wonderful true story of a cat called Dewey. His beginnings were very humble and his life could quite probably have been quite short if it had not been for a fortuitous event that occurred one cold winter morning. Vicki Myron, the chief librarian at Spencer Library in Iowa, heard some very strange noises coming from the book drop box that borrowers used in order to return their books when the library was closed. On opening the box she discovered a small, dirty, shivering kitten and her heart melted. As a consequence, the kitten, which was soon to be named Dewey, was adopted and became the official library cat.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847388442</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ruth Thomson and Chloe Thomson
 
|title=Have You Started Yet?: You and your period: getting the facts straight
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Every young girl will face her periods starting but it’s the preparation which goes on beforehand which will determine whether or not this is seen as the body developing naturally or a problem.  Both are attitudes which are likely to stay through life and it’s obviously better that it’s the firmer rather than the latter.  ‘’Have You Started Yet’’ gives factual information in an informative and reassuring manner and in a form which is easily readable to girls of about nine years old and above.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230744907</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tracey Turner
 
|title=Dreadful Fates
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Imagine the delight you get, as a book reviewer, when you chance upon a title that stands out, by filling a nice handy gap in the market you'd never even noticed, and doing it so well you want to alert as many people as possible.  This is such a time, Dreadful Fates is such a book, and as for the gap…  This book hits upon the darker corners of all those copious 'highlights of history for the kids' books, touches upon The Darwin Awards compilations of stupid people dying in stupid ways, and merges with those collections of famous last words and epitaphs some of us like flicking through now and again – and does it all for the under-thirteen audience.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408124211</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Richard Platt
 
|title=Would You Believe...in Mexico people picnic at granny's grave?!
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Well if there’s one important aspect of families, it is that books are included.  It is evident from the details, trivia and facts here that you don’t need a father, a mother, or siblings.  You might even have several spreads of half- and step-siblings, and copious parents here, there and everywhere.  You might get to have a nanny, a cohort of family helpers, but one thing I would thrust on anybody would be a collection of books at home – and yes, books such as these tidy 48 pages would be among them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199119856</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Richard Platt
 
|title=Would You Believe...bed testers get paid to sleep?!
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=It is quite certain the reader of this book will not be a bed tester, however broad the smile it carries as it suggests anyone can get the employment they dream after.  Neither will she or he be a vital scribe for some ancient civilisation, a slave, a drudge, or a worker in a Communist collective farm.  But it is definitely an eye-opener how all that and so much more can be considered by just 48 tidy pages.  
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|summary=''Babies seem to be born with an amazing number sense: understanding shapes in the womb, being aware of quantities at seven hours old, assessing probability at six months old, and comprehending addition and subtraction at nine months old.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199119864</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Did you know this? I didn't! How about:
|author=Richard Platt
 
|title=Would You Believe...Vatican City is a country?!
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Cities don’t just spring up around us.  They have taken thousands of years of civilisation to form, however surprising that might appear at times.  Conversely, there are some who are just a few hundreds of years old that have been empty for centuries, and others that have been planned over a drawing board and become a capital city in a decade-long instant.  All are within these tidy 48 pages.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199119708</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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''Maths ability on entry to school is a strong predictor of later achievement, double that of literacy skills.''
|author=Richard Platt
 
|title=Would You Believe...two cyclists invented the aeroplane?!
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Where can you find a welter of trivia and facts about transport from the ages, from the first use of Shanks’s pony, to the latest holidays to the edge of space?  What has so much detail it can fit in the reasons for Mark Twain’s pen-name?  Where can the adult browsing their child’s non-fiction library find a 'Glamorous Glennis' going 'kinda screwy' and see how it refers to the breaking of the sound barrier?  In these tidy 48 pages, for one.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199119694</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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I didn't know this either! I think most parents are aware that giving your children a good start in literacy - reading stories, teaching pen grips, singing rhymes - gives children a solid foundation when they start school. But do we think the same way about maths, beyond counting? I don't think we do, in part because so many of us are afraid of maths. But why are we? Most of us use maths in daily life without realising and it follows that giving our children a similar pre-school grounding will be just as beneficial.
|author=Glenn Murphy
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|title=Science: Sorted! Evolution, Nature and Stuff
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1406395404
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|title=The Awesome Power of Sleep: How Sleep Super-Charges Your Teenage Brain
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|author=Nicola Morgan
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Ever wanted to know about evolution, nature and stuff? Unsurprisingly, this is the book for you. If you're interested in [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330508938?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0330508938 space, black holes and stuff], then Glenn Murphy has also written a sister book in the ''Science: Sorted!'' series packed full of all the information you'd want to know. It's all written with the fabulous quality that made [[Why is Snot Green? by Glenn Murphy|Why is Snot Green?]] such a must-read.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330508946</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nicole Dryburgh
 
|title=Talk to the Hand
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Teens
 
|genre=Teens
|summary=We first met Nicole Dryburgh in her book ''The Way I See It'', which she wrote at eighteen, and which detailed her battles with cancer and the loss of her sight. We loved the warts-and-all picture of her life that she gave us then, and so we were really pleased to see that she's written a second book.  
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|summary=2020 has been a strange year: I doubt anyone would argue with that statement. Lots of our routines have been completely dismantled and for some teenagers this will have brought about sleep problems. Some teens will dismiss this as irrelevant ('who needs sleep? - I've got loads to be doing) and others will worry unnecessarily. Most people, from children to adults will have the odd bad night but worrying about your lack of sleep is only likely to make it worse. And there's also the fact that for far too long, lack of sleep has been lauded as a virtue and sleep made to seem like laziness.  Being up early, working late has been praised and the ability to survive on little sleep has almost become something to put on your CV.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340996978</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Gary Blackwood
 
|title=The Great Race: The Amazing Round-The-World Auto Race Of 1908
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=In 1908, Henry Ford's Model T hadn't yet brought cars to the masses. The pioneers of the world of automobiles were experimenting and discovering just what the car could do, by driving right round the world. Except they didn't want to be pioneers. One of the competitors, Antonio Scarfoglio, put it so perfectly when he said ''We had set out to perpetuate an act of splendid folly, not to open up a new way for men. We wished to be madmen, not pioneers.'' Isn't that about the best quote you've ever read?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0810994895</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767343
|author=Nicola Davies
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|title=Count on Me
|title=Gaia Warriors
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|author=Miguel Tanco
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The best way to read this book is to treat it like a magazine:  flip the pages and dip in.  I can guarantee that you will find something to catch your eyeFashion addicts could start on page 136 ''Dressing for the climate'', foodies may prefer page 124 ''Rock-star food''. The array of different typefaces and page colours make the book very easy to browse, and the author excels at explaining difficult concepts in a straightforward waySo certain sections in it could be considered not just as for older children or teen readers, but as an informative read for adults as well.
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|summary=The title and format of this book might lead you to think that it's either about responsibility - or it's a basic 1-2-3 book for those just starting out on the numbers journeyIt isn't: it's a hymn of praise to mathsIt's about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406312347</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767009
|author=Gary Blackwood
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|title=It Isn't Rude to be Nude
|title=Mysterious Messages - A History of Codes and Ciphers
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|author=Rosie Haine
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=There's something utterly cool about codes and ciphers. It's not just the spies with their secret world, it's the mystery of an ostensibly random set of letters or pictures. It's being able to unravel them and see what they're hiding. It's a combination of geeky riddle solving (and geeks are cool, so there) and uncovering the unknown meanings. Gary Blackwood treats us to a history of codes and ciphers, looking at their creation, the stories behind them, and how to crack them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0525479600</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Robert Crowther
 
|title=Cars - A Pop-Up Book Of Automobiles
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Robert Crowther tells the story of the car, from Cugnot's steam engine, Trevithick's road locomotive and Benz's Motorwagen, right through to the record-breaking Thrust SSC and to future cars, like the biodegradable Eco One. There are plenty of pop-ups and pull tabs to bring it all to life, and it's packed with detail.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406312274</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Various
 
|title=Hello Kitty Guide to Life
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=''Hello Kitty'' is a huge worldwide phenomenon with a whole heap of related merchandise featuring the cute cartoon cat in dresses and ribbons. It appeals to girls and women of many ages, but this new hardback book ''Hello Kitty – Guide to Life'' is aimed at the brand's younger fans, probably around 6 to 14 year olds.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000732622X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John Abbott Nez
 
|title=Cromwell Dixon's Sky-Cycle
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=Meet Cromwell DixonHe's a real tinkerer, forever in a barn or somewhere building something manically unusualLuckily - although his long-suffering mother may disagree with that word - he's around at the birth of powered flightWill his plans for a pedalled air machine work?
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|summary=This could have been one of those books which 'preaches to the choir': the only people who'll buy it are the people who know that nudity is OK and the ones who ''know'' that it's shameful will avoid it like they avoid the hot-and-bothered person in the supermarket who is coughing fit to bustBut... Rosie Haines makes it into something so much more than a book about not wearing clothes.  It's a celebration of bodies: bodies large and small and of every possible hueBodies with disabilities and markings.  They're fineIn fact, they're wonderful.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0399250417</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776572858
|author=Tracey Turner
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=Deadly Peril and How To Avoid It
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Home and Family
|summary=Have you ever wondered what to do if you're bitten by blue-ringed octopus, or if you find yourself up to your neck in quicksand? It's a dangerous world out there and Tracey Turner has all the information that young explorers, daredevils and fact-hounds need to know.
+
|summary=It's more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made.  My mother was deeply embarrassed and told me that she'd get me a book about it.  A couple of days later I was handed a pamphlet (which delivered nothing more than the basics, in clinical language which had never been used in our house before)  and I was told that it wouldn't be discussed any further as it ''wasn't something which nice people talked about''.  I ''knew'' more, but was little ''wiser''.  Thankfully, times have changed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747597944</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1526362759
|author=Philip Ardagh
+
|title=Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It, Give It
|title=Philip Ardagh's Book of Howlers, Blunders and Random Mistakery
+
|author=Rashmi Sirdeshpande
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=There's nought so queer as folkFrom the idiot who broke into a car without realising his name and date of birth were clearly seen on his tattoo on CCTV, to the people who ordered someone to paint clothes on all the people in the Sistine Chapel - before others came along who decided the original had been better, and the people who dismissed The Beatles as never likely to make a name for themselves.  We have long been a race of idiots.
+
|summary=What a relief!  A book about money, for children, with clear explanations of what it is, why it matters, how to acquire more of it (nope - robbing banks is out) and what you can do with it when you've managed to get hold of it.  Your reasons for wanting money don't matter: we all need it to some extentYou might want to go into business, be a clever shopper, a saver (you might even become an ''investor'') and there might be something you really, ''really'' want to buy.  There's also the possibility of using to do good in the world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330471724</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=178112938X
|author=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner
+
|title=Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission
|title=The Comic Strip History of Space
+
|author=David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner treated us to a [[The Comic Strip History of the World by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|Comic Strip History of the World]], and have now turned their attention to space. They explain to children everything from the origins of the universe, to what ancient civilisations thought of the stars, through astronomers discovering the truth about planets, right up to current space missions.
+
|summary=It's fifty years since the Apollo 13 mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but the story of that journey remains one of the greatest survival stories of all time.  ''Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission'' is a brilliant retelling of what happened.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594325</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|author=Kathleen Boucher and Sara Chadwick
 +
|title=Nine Ways to Empower Tweens
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Confident Readers
 +
|summary=''9 Ways to Empower Tweens'' is a self-help book for tweens, setting out to show them vital #lifeskills. Don't groan! I know there is a market glut of such books for we grown-ups and for young adults too, but there is a needful space in an increasingly technological world accessible to younger and younger children for material for tweens too. 
 +
|isbn= 0228818826
 +
}}
  
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Tony Robinson
+
|isbn=1609809173
|title=Bad Kids: the Worst-Behaved Children in History
+
|title=Eiffel's Tower for Young People
 +
|author=Jill Jonnes
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I'm starting to wonder about the type of person who would write such a horrible and terrifying book for children; it's as confusing as trying to work out an age category for this book. ''Bad Kids'' is a gruesome look through history using the ways children were punished through the ages as a central core. It runs right through history from ancient Iraq, where you could get your fingers chopped off for hitting your parents (they only recently abolished that one) to the modern day and the use of ASBOs.
+
|summary=Brash and elegant, sophisticated, controversial and vibrant, the 1889 World's Fair in Paris encompassed the best, the worst and the beautiful from many countries and cultures. The French Republic laid out model villages from all their colonies, put on art shows, dance performances, food festivals and concerts to stun the senses. And towering above it all, the most popular and the most hated monument to French accomplishment and daring – the Eiffel Tower.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0230737870</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1848576536
 +
|title=Humanatomy: How the Body Works
 +
|author=Nicola Edwards and Jem Maybank
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 +
|summary=''Get under your own skin, pick your brains, and go inside your insides!''
  
{{newreview
+
That's what ''Humanatomy'' invites you to do and honestly, I don't see how you could resist. This informative book provides a wonderful primer about the human body to curious children- from the skeletal system to the muscular system via circulation, respiration and digestion, right up to the DNA that makes who we are.
|author=Robert Leroy Ripley
 
|title=Ripley's Believe It or Not 2010
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=If you're looking for a book which is going to keep a child (or some adults!) happy for hours on end then look no further.  So long as you don't mind the groans of (mock) disgust, screams of horror and constantly being asked to look at (another) picture or listen as more is read to you then you should be absolutely fine.  Following hot on the heels of last year's success ''Ripley's Believe It or Not 2010'' is packed full of bizarre facts (some of which you might appreciate knowing – others you will definitely wish you didn't), fiends and freaks.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847945856</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Charlie Norton
+
|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=The Bumper Book of Bravery
+
|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The Bumper Book of Bravery looks at bravery in all its forms - from people in wars, to explorers enduring amazing hardships, through spies and revolutionaries, by way of sportsmen and women, even to brave animals.
+
|summary=Emily found words ''useful'', but counting was what she loved best.  Obviously, you can count anything and there's no limit to how far you can go, but then Emily moved a step further and began counting in twos. She knew all about odd and even numbers. Then she began counting in threes: half of the list were even numbers, but the other half was odd and it was this list of odd numbers which occurred when you counted in threes which she called ''threeven''.  (Actually, this confused me a little bit at first as they're a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be a subset of the even numbers, but it all worked out well when I really thought about it.)
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905264836</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Philip Ardagh and Mike Gordon
 
|title=Dinosaurs (Henry's House)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Henry's House is extraordinary: it's full of fossils, footprints, and even real dinosaurs. Jaggers the caretaker and Mr Boffin show him around, explaining all about dinosaurs, as Henry sees for himself just what amazing creatures they were, and learns the differences between the various types.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407107194</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Conn Iggulden and David Iggulden
 
|title=The Dangerous Book of Heroes
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=History
 
|summary=For most of us (well, for me certainly) the word 'hero' summons an image of capes, spandex and garish primary colours. Conn and David Iggulden have written a book about the other kind – the every day heroes from history, who achieve incredible things without the aid of superpowers.
 
 
 
From household names like Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill, to lesser known people, like Aphra Behn and Hereward the Wake, ''The Dangerous Book of Heroes'' covers a comprehensive range of characters from the history of the British Empire. From campaigners for political change, brilliant battle strategists to daring explorers, each and every one of the people in this book lived brilliant lives and changed the world forever.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>000726092X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Buckingham_Dawn
|author=Jane Brocket
+
|title=The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus
|title=Ripping Things to Do
+
|author=Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Right from the very moment I opened the envelope this book was delivered in, I had the distinct feeling this would be a real gem of a book, and how right I was. Though, initially, I was reminded of the Iggulden brothers' ''Dangerous Book for Boys'' series, this book has a very different ethos, even though the subject matter overlaps somewhat unavoidably making it bear comparison.
+
|summary=What a treat!  I really did mean to just ''glance'' at ''The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus'' but the pull of the sounds of a dozen different birds singing their hearts out was far too much to resist on a cold and rather wet February morning.  I spent an indulgent hour or so reading all about the birds and listening to their song.  Then - just because I could - I went back and did it all again and it was just as good the second time around. So, what do you get?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980966</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Pankhurst_Women
|author=Andy Cullen and Simon Rickerty
+
|title=Fantastically Great Women Who Made History
|title=Peas!
+
|author=Kate Pankhurst
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=The farmer sows the seed from which Penelope and Pete Pea grow. They're picked, packed, delivered, bought, cooked and eaten, and we follow them on every step of their journey.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141502584</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nicola Davies and Neal Layton
 
|title=What's Eating You?
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Did you know that there are more than 430 types of parasites that can live on humans? Are you scratching? Good! Now you know what it was like for me reading What's Eating You? It's a fantastically detailed introduction to parasites - on humans and other animals - that any science-loving child will love.
+
|summary=A lot of history is about men. Kings and generals and inventors and politicians. Sometimes, it feels almost as though there were no women in history at all, let alone ones young girls might like to read about or regard as role models. Of course, this isn't true and there are plenty of women who, throughout history, have achieved amazing things or shown incredible bravery, or created something never seen before. So here, in this wonderful picture book from Kate Pankhurst, are the stories of some of them.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406313548</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ignotofsky_Sport
|author=Aidan Potts
+
|title=Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win
|title=The Smash! Smash! Truck
+
|author=Rachel Ignotofsky
|rating=3
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=The Smash! Smash! Truck looks at the process of recycling glass, taking in a brief look at the Big Bang, atoms and the water cycle, to explain why recycling is a good idea.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0385608934</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Leo Hickman
 
|title=Will Jellyfish Rule the World?
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Have you ever wondered why it rains so much in Britain? What a glacier and a canary have in common? Or how lizards once managed to sunbathe in Antarctica? Green expert Leo Hickman is here to answer all these questions and more in his new book, ''Will Jellyfish Rule the World?''
+
|summary=''Women in Sport'' is coming to us just before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018. It celebrates a century and a half of the development of women's sport by looking at fifty of its highest achievers, covering sports as diverse as swimming, fencing, riding, skating, and much more. Think of a sport and a pioneering woman succeeding at it is probably in this book somewhere. Each entry is a double-page spread with a brief biography and a striking portrait.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141323345</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Rooney_Dino
|author=Cylin Busby and John Busby
+
|title=Discovering Dinosaurs
|title=The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir
+
|author=Anne Rooney and Suzanne Carpenter
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=''When my dad dies, his body will go to the Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston,'' ''though I suspect they are mostly interested in his head... His was in an interesting case - the lower half of his jaw'' ''was removed when he was shot in the head with a shotgun. His tongue was torn in half, his teeth and gums blown'' ''away, leaving a bit of bone that was once his chin connected with dangling flesh at the front of his face.''
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408802015</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Phil Robins
 
|title=Can I Come Home, Please?
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Using the sound archives of the Imperial War Museum and other primary sources, this affecting volume gives an overview of the progress of Nazism as seen through the eyes of children in different parts of Europe. The simplicity of the language used in the transcribed interviews means it is accessible to children from Y6, yet remains useful to GCSE students as a succinct, linear timeline of WW2.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407109030</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony Adolph
 
|title=Who Am I?: The Family Tree Explorer
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=A fascination with family history seems more than just a passing fad: for many it's a hobby approaching an obsession and in a mobile (both geographically and socially) and globalised society, people unable to answer a 'where we are all going' question find security and identity in pursuing an answer to 'where do I come from?'
+
|summary=Lift the flap books have progressed somewhat since I was a child. This one comes with sounds! Taking us layer by layer, through various different ages of dinosaurs, we meet a variety of creatures, some of whom are very familiar but some I'd never heard of before! Each scene peels open, layer by layer, showing you what the various dinosaurs are getting up to, with background noises, roars and squawks to accompany them! The book creates a dinosaur experience, rather than just being facts about dinosaurs it's very visual, placing the dinosaurs in their habitats and giving us sounds too that spike your imagination.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847245099</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Various
 
|title=Bob's Great Green Book (Bob the Builder)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Bob the Builder and his crew of machines live in the glorious Sunflower Valley and enjoy their work. However, as well as building new developments, they like to look after the world around them. Their motto is ''Reduce,'' '' Reuse and Recycle'' and they apply this to everything that they do. This book aims to introduce the youngest of children to the benefits of recycling, how to recycle and look after the world around them using characters that are familiar and in a way that teaches, not preaches.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>140524657X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ali Valenzuela
 
|title=Weighing It Up
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=Although never having had an eating disorder myself, I have been interested in them since I was young. I was a competitive gymnast and that is a world where eating disorders do creep in. Now I'm a mother of three teenage daughters, I worry about the subject from a whole new angle, especially as one of them is a size 6-8 and idolises those super-skinny celebrities.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988401</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mason_poo
|author=Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips
+
|title=The Poo That Animals Do
|title=Planet In Peril
+
|author=Paul Mason and Tony de Saulles
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Saving the Earth is the latest bandwagon upon which authors seem determined to jump with children's authors at the forefront of the charge.  I've seen quite a few which were little more than a watered-down version of the sort of information which would be given to an adult and I can imagine that a lot of children would feel patronised.  This ''Horrible Geography Handbook'' – ''Planet in Peril'' is a breath of fresh air.  Well, apart, that is, from when the loo gets a little too well used.
+
|summary=I know, I know, sometimes you really don't want to encourage your children's poo jokes, but this book is brilliant! I sat and read it by myself when the kids had gone to school and found it fascinating! Who knew there was so much I didn't know about poo? The book manages to be both funny (and silly) as well as being very interesting and educational. Using a mixture of facts and figures, photographs and funny cartoons, you come away having sniggered a little at the vulture who poos on its own feet but also knowing a lot about different types of poo, why poos smell, and why wombats do square poos.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407105779</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=The Blackest Hole in Space
 
|author=Penny Little and Vincent Vigla
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=For Sharing
 
|summary=Charlie and his dad build a rocket, then Charlie and Doggo head off into space, where they're sucked into a black hole. They have a bit of a look around (as one does in a black hole, apparently), then head off home for their tea.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340944676</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Children's Rhymes and Verse Reviews]]
|author=Stewart Ross
 
|title=Moon: Science, History, and Mystery
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=By now we should be living in colonies on Mars and still using computers that take up a whole room: futurologists have a talent for getting things spectacularly wrong, but their predictions express the human ability to dream and transcend its limitations and conditions: we dream of reaching for the stars – and humans actually walked on the Moon. It's hard to believe that first landing happened forty years ago!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0545127327</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 13:29, 9 September 2023

1839948493.jpg

Review of

A World of Dogs by Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

In the interests of full disclosure, I must tell you that I'm a sucker for dogs. In nearly eight decades, I've never met one I didn't trust and I've loved most of them. I wish I felt the same about human beings. So, any book about dogs, I'm going to sit down and devour. Then I'm going to go back and read it properly. And so it was with A World of Dogs, with ninety-six pages devoted entirely to my four-legged friends. Author Carlie Sorosiak found herself the accidental owner of an American Dingo - she's learned quite a lot about dogs since then. Full Review

1529507987.jpg

Review of

The Repair Shop Craft Book by Walker Books and Sonia Albert (Illustrator)

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I love The Repair Shop. It's my go-to programme when I want to be cheered up. After a hard day, there's nothing better than watching experts repair treasured items without ever mentioning what they're worth. You see, the value is in what these possessions are worth to the people who own them and the memories they hold. No expense appears to be spared and the experts spend as much time and effort as is required to achieve the desired result. Regular viewers know the experts and they're all brilliant at explaining what it is they're doing. But how did they start? Full Review

024162343X.jpg

Review of

Stolen History by Sathnam Sanghera

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I was the bad company other people got into at school. I was disruptive in religious education classes because I disputed the existence of a 'god'. Where was the proof? In history lessons, it was probably worse still. Not too long after the end of WWII, I didn't so much want to learn about the British army's successes (and occasional failures, but we didn't dwell on those) in what came to be called 'the colonies' as want to dispute what right the army had to be there in the first place. Looking back, I still believe I was right - but I regret that I lacked the maturity to approach 'the problem' politely. I wish I'd had Sathnam Sanghera's Stolen History. Full Review

024156574X.jpg

Review of

Fritz and Kurt by Jeremy Dronfield and David Ziggy Greene

4star.jpg Confident Readers

We start with the pair of brothers Fritz and Kurt, and their muckers, doing things any Jewish lad in 1930s Vienna would want to do – kicking things around the empty market place, helping the neighbours, being dutiful when it comes to the synagogue choir and at a vocational school. Kurt has to make sure the lamps are turned on at their very Orthodox neighbours' each Friday night – the Sabbath preventing them for using anything nearly as mechanical and workmanlike as a light switch. But this is the time just before the Austrian leader is going to cave to Hitler's will, and instead of having a national vote to keep the Nazis out, invite them in with open arms. Kristallnacht happened in Vienna just as much as in Germany, as did all the round-ups of Jews. These in their turn leave the younger Kurt at home with his mother and sisters anxious to hear word of an evacuation to Britain or the US, while Fritz and his father are, unknown initially to each other, packed off on the same train to Buchenwald and the stone quarry there. And us wondering how the titular event for the adult variant of all this could come about… Full Review

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Review of

Britannica's Word of the Day by Patrick Kelly, Renee Kelly and Sue Macy

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Britannica's Word of the Day has a sub-title: 366 Elevating Utterances to Stretch Your Cranium and Tickle Your Humerus which probably tells you all that you need to know about this brilliant book. It starts on January 1st with Razzmatazz, tells you how to pronounce it (raz-muh-TAZ), gives you a definition and then includes the word in a sentence so that you know how it should be used. You also get an engaging and frequently amusing illustration too. I don't think I've ever encountered a word which uses the letter Z four times before! Full Review

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Review of

The Secret Life of Birds by Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I have recently discovered a great pleasure: I sit and watch the vast numbers of birds which visit our garden on a daily basis. An hour can pass without my noticing. I've established which species feed from the ground, which pop to the feeders for a quick snatch of some food and who settles in for a good munch but I wish I was more knowledgeable. It would have been wonderful if, as a child, I'd had access to a book such as The Secret Life of Birds. So – what is it? Full Review

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Review of

Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs by Isabel Thomas

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

'Germs' seems to have become a catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you ill. In the first book in what looks to be a very promising new series, OUP and Isabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of germs. We get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the thinking has developed over time. The vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 'speak like a scientist' which explains some of the trickiest concepts and you'll soon be familiar with bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses – and how we should protect ourselves. Full Review

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Review of

100 Ways in 100 Days to Teach Your Baby Maths: Support All Areas of Your Baby’s Development by Nurturing a Love of Maths by Emma Smith

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Babies seem to be born with an amazing number sense: understanding shapes in the womb, being aware of quantities at seven hours old, assessing probability at six months old, and comprehending addition and subtraction at nine months old.

Did you know this? I didn't! How about:

Maths ability on entry to school is a strong predictor of later achievement, double that of literacy skills.

I didn't know this either! I think most parents are aware that giving your children a good start in literacy - reading stories, teaching pen grips, singing rhymes - gives children a solid foundation when they start school. But do we think the same way about maths, beyond counting? I don't think we do, in part because so many of us are afraid of maths. But why are we? Most of us use maths in daily life without realising and it follows that giving our children a similar pre-school grounding will be just as beneficial. Full Review

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Review of

The Awesome Power of Sleep: How Sleep Super-Charges Your Teenage Brain by Nicola Morgan

5star.jpg Teens

2020 has been a strange year: I doubt anyone would argue with that statement. Lots of our routines have been completely dismantled and for some teenagers this will have brought about sleep problems. Some teens will dismiss this as irrelevant ('who needs sleep? - I've got loads to be doing) and others will worry unnecessarily. Most people, from children to adults will have the odd bad night but worrying about your lack of sleep is only likely to make it worse. And there's also the fact that for far too long, lack of sleep has been lauded as a virtue and sleep made to seem like laziness. Being up early, working late has been praised and the ability to survive on little sleep has almost become something to put on your CV. Full Review

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Review of

Count on Me by Miguel Tanco

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

The title and format of this book might lead you to think that it's either about responsibility - or it's a basic 1-2-3 book for those just starting out on the numbers journey. It isn't: it's a hymn of praise to maths. It's about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life. Full Review

1849767009.jpg

Review of

It Isn't Rude to be Nude by Rosie Haine

5star.jpg For Sharing

This could have been one of those books which 'preaches to the choir': the only people who'll buy it are the people who know that nudity is OK and the ones who know that it's shameful will avoid it like they avoid the hot-and-bothered person in the supermarket who is coughing fit to bust. But... Rosie Haines makes it into something so much more than a book about not wearing clothes. It's a celebration of bodies: bodies large and small and of every possible hue. Bodies with disabilities and markings. They're fine. In fact, they're wonderful. Full Review

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Review of

How Do You Make a Baby? by Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)

5star.jpg Home and Family

It's more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made. My mother was deeply embarrassed and told me that she'd get me a book about it. A couple of days later I was handed a pamphlet (which delivered nothing more than the basics, in clinical language which had never been used in our house before) and I was told that it wouldn't be discussed any further as it wasn't something which nice people talked about. I knew more, but was little wiser. Thankfully, times have changed. Full Review

1526362759.jpg

Review of

Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It, Give It by Rashmi Sirdeshpande

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

What a relief! A book about money, for children, with clear explanations of what it is, why it matters, how to acquire more of it (nope - robbing banks is out) and what you can do with it when you've managed to get hold of it. Your reasons for wanting money don't matter: we all need it to some extent. You might want to go into business, be a clever shopper, a saver (you might even become an investor) and there might be something you really, really want to buy. There's also the possibility of using to do good in the world. Full Review

178112938X.jpg

Review of

Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission by David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)

5star.jpg Dyslexia Friendly

It's fifty years since the Apollo 13 mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, but the story of that journey remains one of the greatest survival stories of all time. Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission is a brilliant retelling of what happened. Full Review

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Review of

Nine Ways to Empower Tweens by Kathleen Boucher and Sara Chadwick

4.5star.jpg Confident Readers

9 Ways to Empower Tweens is a self-help book for tweens, setting out to show them vital #lifeskills. Don't groan! I know there is a market glut of such books for we grown-ups and for young adults too, but there is a needful space in an increasingly technological world accessible to younger and younger children for material for tweens too. Full Review

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Review of

Eiffel's Tower for Young People by Jill Jonnes

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Brash and elegant, sophisticated, controversial and vibrant, the 1889 World's Fair in Paris encompassed the best, the worst and the beautiful from many countries and cultures. The French Republic laid out model villages from all their colonies, put on art shows, dance performances, food festivals and concerts to stun the senses. And towering above it all, the most popular and the most hated monument to French accomplishment and daring – the Eiffel Tower. Full Review

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Review of

Humanatomy: How the Body Works by Nicola Edwards and Jem Maybank

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Get under your own skin, pick your brains, and go inside your insides!

That's what Humanatomy invites you to do and honestly, I don't see how you could resist. This informative book provides a wonderful primer about the human body to curious children- from the skeletal system to the muscular system via circulation, respiration and digestion, right up to the DNA that makes who we are. Full Review

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Review of

Emily's Numbers by Joss Langford

4star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Emily found words useful, but counting was what she loved best. Obviously, you can count anything and there's no limit to how far you can go, but then Emily moved a step further and began counting in twos. She knew all about odd and even numbers. Then she began counting in threes: half of the list were even numbers, but the other half was odd and it was this list of odd numbers which occurred when you counted in threes which she called threeven. (Actually, this confused me a little bit at first as they're a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be a subset of the even numbers, but it all worked out well when I really thought about it.) Full Review

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Review of

The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus by Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington

5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

What a treat! I really did mean to just glance at The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus but the pull of the sounds of a dozen different birds singing their hearts out was far too much to resist on a cold and rather wet February morning. I spent an indulgent hour or so reading all about the birds and listening to their song. Then - just because I could - I went back and did it all again and it was just as good the second time around. So, what do you get? Full Review

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Review of

Fantastically Great Women Who Made History by Kate Pankhurst

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

A lot of history is about men. Kings and generals and inventors and politicians. Sometimes, it feels almost as though there were no women in history at all, let alone ones young girls might like to read about or regard as role models. Of course, this isn't true and there are plenty of women who, throughout history, have achieved amazing things or shown incredible bravery, or created something never seen before. So here, in this wonderful picture book from Kate Pankhurst, are the stories of some of them. Full Review

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Review of

Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win by Rachel Ignotofsky

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Women in Sport is coming to us just before the Winter Olympics in South Korea in February 2018. It celebrates a century and a half of the development of women's sport by looking at fifty of its highest achievers, covering sports as diverse as swimming, fencing, riding, skating, and much more. Think of a sport and a pioneering woman succeeding at it is probably in this book somewhere. Each entry is a double-page spread with a brief biography and a striking portrait. Full Review

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Review of

Discovering Dinosaurs by Anne Rooney and Suzanne Carpenter

4star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Lift the flap books have progressed somewhat since I was a child. This one comes with sounds! Taking us layer by layer, through various different ages of dinosaurs, we meet a variety of creatures, some of whom are very familiar but some I'd never heard of before! Each scene peels open, layer by layer, showing you what the various dinosaurs are getting up to, with background noises, roars and squawks to accompany them! The book creates a dinosaur experience, rather than just being facts about dinosaurs it's very visual, placing the dinosaurs in their habitats and giving us sounds too that spike your imagination. Full Review

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Review of

The Poo That Animals Do by Paul Mason and Tony de Saulles

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

I know, I know, sometimes you really don't want to encourage your children's poo jokes, but this book is brilliant! I sat and read it by myself when the kids had gone to school and found it fascinating! Who knew there was so much I didn't know about poo? The book manages to be both funny (and silly) as well as being very interesting and educational. Using a mixture of facts and figures, photographs and funny cartoons, you come away having sniggered a little at the vulture who poos on its own feet but also knowing a lot about different types of poo, why poos smell, and why wombats do square poos. Full Review

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