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

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(362 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Category:Children's Non-Fiction|*]]
 
[[Category:Children's Non-Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Children's Non-Fiction]]
+
[[Category:New Reviews|Children's Non-Fiction]]__NOTOC__  <!-- Remove -->
==Children's non-fiction==
+
{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
+
|isbn=1839948493
{{newreview
+
|title=A World of Dogs
|author=Various
+
|author=Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe
|title=Hello Kitty Dictionary
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The Hello Kitty Dictionary takes a concept that many young students might not find too interesting (me, on the other hand, I love books full of words) and puts a colourful and fun spin on it. Because if you’re having to look up how to spell a word, or what something means, it helps to have pages with lemon and violet and aquamarine borders, dotted with presents and hearts and stars. That’s not to say the dictionary isn’t clear and easy to read because it certainly is: the decorations don’t extend into the centre of the pages, and the entries themselves are bold fuchsia followed by neat black explanations, all neatly formatted on crisp white pages.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007457197</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1529507987
|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
+
|title=The Repair Shop Craft Book
|title=A Horrid Factbook: Food
+
|author=Walker Books and Sonia Albert (Illustrator)
|rating=4
+
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=For a horrid child our Henry has acquired a lot of facts, you know and the latest of his Horrid Fact Books is about food.  It follows the usual format of quick-fire facts liberally accompanied by brilliant illustrations from Tony RossThe book's divided into chapters which are just the right length to appeal to the emerging reader and to give a regular feel-good buzz when there's another chapter under the beltWith ninety-nine pages of text there's enough to give the sense of having read ''a book'' but without it being too much of a trialIt ticks all the boxes as an early reader.
+
|summary=I love ''The Repair Shop''.  It's my go-to programme when I want to be cheered upAfter 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 resultRegular viewers know the experts and they're all brilliant at explaining what it is they're doingBut how did they start?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444006339</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=024162343X
|author=Tony Robinson
+
|title=Stolen History
|title=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: Romans
+
|author=Sathnam Sanghera
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You could be mistaken for thinking [[:Category:Tony Robinson|Tony Robinson]] had written books like this before, for he was doing 'Horrid History'-style TV programmes before the official ones were madeThis series fits so well into his erudite yet family audience-friendly manner, and this second book takes us in a primary school curriculum-suiting way into the world of RomeA lot is in these books, from trivia for all ages (I didn't know, or had forgotten, that all those Julius Caesar reliefs and statues are of him in a wig as he was bald), to the delectable gross-out (the posh man's cuisine) to the foregrounding of the obvious difference between them and us (in a word, slavery).
+
|summary=I was the bad company other people got into at schoolI 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 stillNot 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>0330533894</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|author=Jeremy Dronfield and David Ziggy Greene
|author=Tony Robinson
+
|title=Fritz and Kurt
|title=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders: Egyptians
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=You could be mistaken for thinking [[:Category:Tony Robinson|Tony Robinson]] had written books like this before, for he was doing 'Horrid History'-style TV programmes before the official ones were made.  This series fits so well into his erudite yet family audience-friendly manner, and this launching book takes us to the strangest of worlds - yet one only a museum visit away, that of the ancient Egyptians.  A lot is in these pages - complete with adult stuff glossed over (just how in-bred '''were''' those Ptolemys?!), the gross-out being relished (making mummies, and some alleged Egyptian medicines) and the obvious differences between them and us foregrounded so we can empathise with them (and at the same time remember it's harder for most of us to sleep on our roofs than they would have found it).
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330533878</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Kathleen King
 
|title=Make and Do: Bake
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=I love the idea of kids cookingThere's going to be mess, probably a bit of waste and you're going to have to bite your tongue an awful lot, but it really is the most amazing funBest of all, though - from an early age kids learn that they can go into the kitchen and make something which they can eat.  They don't need to go to the shops and buy a ready meal or to a takeaway for junk foodThey can make something themselves.  It's a life skill.
+
|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 schoolKurt 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 thereAnd us wondering how the titular event for the adult variant of all this could come about…
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849154384</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=024156574X
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1913750353
|author=Dan Green and Simon Basher
+
|title=Britannica's Word of the Day
|title=Basher Science: Oceans
+
|author=Patrick Kelly, Renee Kelly and Sue Macy
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I've often wondered why this planet is called 'earth' when three-quarters of it obviously isn't and it seems that I'm not alone. Dan Green and Simon Basher have decided to take a close look at the oceans and other bodies of water on the planet and to explain them in simple words, accompanied by Simon Brasher's illustrations which are almost - but not quite - manga.  It's a style which kids are going to be comfortable with - and they're not going to associate it with something boring which they have to learnIt's fun.
+
|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 tooI don't think I've ever encountered a word which uses the letter Z four times before!
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753433443</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0711266204
|author=Richard Brassey
+
|title=The Secret Life of Birds
|title=The Queen
+
|author=Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Those of us who've been around for longer than the Queen has been on the throne tend to forget that not everyone knows about her history or who-is-who in the family.  Richard Brassey has set out to remedy that with this easy-read, almost comic-style book about Her Majesty and there's lots in there in the way of fascinating information, some fun facts and (I'll confess!) a few anecdotes which left me chuckling, sometimes with and sometimes... er, well, I think we'll gloss over that bit, but let me say that this book is not at all sycophantic!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444001272</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
[[Category:Confident Readers]]
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ellen Emerson White
 
|title=Titanic: An Edwardian Girl's Diary 1912
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Margaret Anne Brady had been at the orphanage for several years when one of the Sisters told her that she'd been asked to accompany a lady who was crossing the Atlantic.  This was a dream come true for Margaret as he only relative - her brother William - lived in Boston and he'd been trying to save up her fare so that she could join him in the USA.  Mrs Carstairs is wealthy and she and Margaret will be travelling First Class - on the maiden voyage of RMS ''Titanic''.  All Margaret's dreams seemed to be coming true at once.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407131419</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Christopher Edge
 
|title=How to Make Money: Smart Ways to Make Millions
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Most kids seem to feel that they could do with more money and short of the parentals coughing up the dosh they have to find some way of earning it for themselvesChristopher Edge has some ideas which might appeal in ''How to Make Money'', with its particularly eye-catching sub-title ''Smart Ways to make MILLIONS''.  Now I rather thought (hoped) that the last bit might be hyperbole, fearing that the country might be over-run by a flood of teenage millionaires, but read on...
+
|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 knowledgeableIt 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>1407129651</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=0192779230
|author=Karen Blumenthal
+
|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
+
|author=Isabel Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Biography
 
|summary=Framed by Jobs' iconic speech at a Stanford College graduation ceremony, and the three stories he told the students, about connecting the dots, love and loss, and mortality, this biography gives a succinct and balanced account of Jobs' life, his successes and his failures, his passions and his ideals, and his infamously polarized personality. The author actively annotates the backstory of Jobs with references from this speech, as well as future events, carefully chosen statistics, and Jobs' own reminiscence, giving a rich context to his story. Jobs' achievements are incredible and they're not simply down to his genius, but his attitudes towards life and his incredible charisma.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1408832062</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Emily Hawkins
 
|title=Illusionology
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=If there was a prize for the most lavish book received here at Bookbag Towers for review, this would definitely be on the shortlistA lovely large format hardback, the cover is a delight itself - with a 3D lenticular image, embossed bits, a plastic gem stuck in it..And inside there are packets of goodies to open and explore, making this more of a literary toy than a book.  The book aims to introduce the cleverer child to the wonders of stagecraft and magic, and so here are props for some tricks for you to do, some instructions for other illusions of your own, and a historical guide to how the masters of their trade did it.
+
|summary='Germs' seems to have become a catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you illIn 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 germsWe 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>1848772084</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1800464495
|author=Patricia McKissack, Frederick L McKissack Jr and Randy DuBurke
+
|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=Best Shot in the West
+
|author=Emma Smith
|rating=4
+
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary='We're going to do the real West, Nat.  You're as real as the rest of 'em - Bat Masterson, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill, the Earps.' So says a publisher to a lowly railroad porter, Nat.  But if this guy's as real as the rest of those famous names, why does his not trip off the tongue?  Is it purely because as the most famous African-American cowboy, he still was not allowed to be as famous as he should?
+
|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>0811857492</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
Did you know this? I didn't! How about:
|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
 
|title=A Horrid Factbook: Horrid Henry's Sports
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Horrid Henry is back with another book of freaky facts and random trivia.  We loved his book about [[A Horrid Factbook: Horrid Henry's Bodies by Francesca Simon and Tony Ross|Bodies]] and this time the lovable lad (well, I'm sure that's what his mother said...) is back with a book about sport.  And in the year of the London Olympic Games, what could be more suitable? It's not just a crammer for [[How to Watch the Olympics: Scores and laws, heroes and zeros – an instant initiation to every sport by David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton|every sport in the Games]] or [[The Story of the Olympics by Richard Brassey|the background to the Games]] themselves.  This is the book which swoops into the World Cow Poo Throwing Contest and delves into the Bog Snorkling Championships.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444001647</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
''Maths ability on entry to school is a strong predictor of later achievement, double that of literacy skills.''
|author=Sam Hay
 
|title=Archie the Guide Dog Puppy: Hero in Training
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=I don't often pick up a non-fiction book for the 7+ age group, find it riveting reading and informative about a subject with which I'm already familiar, but that was the case with ''Archie: Hero in Training''.  Archie is a puppy destined to be a guide dog for a blind person and he's just one story in a book about the pups-in-training, the working dogs, the adults who have guide dogs, or struggle to learn the techniques - or even what happens to the dogs who don't turn out to be what's needed. There's a full range as well as information about what a guide dog costs - and it's not cheap!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>033053792X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
+
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=Steve Backshall
+
}} 
|title=Predators
+
{{Frontpage
|rating=4
+
|isbn=1406395404
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|title=The Awesome Power of Sleep: How Sleep Super-Charges Your Teenage Brain
|summary=Many readers would probably know that on the simple count of humans they helped to dispatch, mosquitoes may be the most deadly animals ever. But did you know that if you take into account the success rate of hunts, diversity and spread, ladybirds are more successful predators than tigers?
+
|author=Nicola Morgan
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444004174</amazonuk>
+
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Teens
 +
|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.
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1849767343
|author=Ewa Solarz, Aleksandra Mizielinski and Daniel Mizielinski
+
|title=Count on Me
|title=Design
+
|author=Miguel Tanco
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=
+
|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 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.
Although this is a book for children I can imagine plenty of grown ups who would find it fascinating!  It's a wonderful dip in and out book and I actually found myself keeping it in our washing basket in the bathroom so I could have a quick read whenever I needed to spend a penny! It depicts 69 objects from all over the world that were designed in the last 150 years.  There's everything here from octopus-inspired lemon juicers through to sofas made to look like a pair of lips or an Ottoman that resembles a shapely lady's bottom!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1877467839</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1849767009
|author=Lois Rock and Steve Noon
+
|title=It Isn't Rude to be Nude
|title=The Lion Bible in its Time
+
|author=Rosie Haine
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=
+
|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 hue.  Bodies with disabilities and markings.  They're fine.  In fact, they're wonderful.
This factual book approaches stories from the bible in a historical way, looking at the lives people would have been living at the time, the sort of homes they had and the reigning monarchs of each eraWorking through from the old testament to the new testament it covers a wide range of biblical stories and is illustrated throughout with fascinating, detailed pictures.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0745960154</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1776572858
|author=Chris Barnardo
+
|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=Dragonolia
+
|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=
+
|summary=It's more than sixty years since I asked how babies were madeMy 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.
This book is, first of all, a rather beautiful book to beholdThe red cloth hardback cover with the curled-up golden dragon on the front immediately make you want to pick it up and look inside!  It's also a rather unusual book, being a mix of both fiction and non-fiction, so when you begin it you're initially not quite sure what you're looking atAs you read on you discover that there's a story running throughout by Sir Richard Barons, a famous dragon hunter, and with each story he tells there is also a craft project of something related to make!
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904967248</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 Kings, Queens, Emperors and Rotten Wart-Nosed Commoners
+
|author=Rashmi Sirdeshpande
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=If you deem a good children's historical trivia book to be one that tells you, the adult, something they didn't know about historical trivia, then this is a good example.  I didn't know George V broke his pelvis when his horse fell on him, startled by some post-WWI huzzahs.  I didn't know Charles VI of France nearly got torched in some drunken bacchanal.  The length of time Charlemagne sat on a throne (over 400 whole years (even if he wasn't wholly whole all that time)) was news to me, as was the raffle that was held (more or less) for being the unknown soldier.  Therefore this is a good book for children and the adults willing to instill some historical trivia into them.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330471732</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Robert Leroy Ripley
 
|title=Ripley's Believe It or Not! 2012
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Here at Bookbag we don't usually cover annualsIn our experience people either know they want them or don't bother with them and once the year is out there's not a lot of interest in them, particularly if they're based on a character which might well have gone out of fashion.  Ripley's ''Believe It Or Not!'' is differentThe series is about interesting facts – all of which are true - which are going to surprise the readers and will continue to surprise them years down the line.  Just to test this out we had a look back at the [[Ripley's Believe It or Not 2010 by Robert Leroy Ripley|2010 edition]] and it's still as shocking, gruesome and downright compulsive as it was when we first saw it.
+
|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 buyThere's also the possibility of using to do good in the world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847946704</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=178112938X
|author=Stephen Law
+
|title=Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission
|title=The Complete Philosophy Files
+
|author=David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=''The Philosophy Files'' and ''The Philosophy Files 2'' were first published in 2000 and 2003 respectively. Now we have them combined and reissued with illustrations by the wonderful Daniel Postgate.
+
|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>1444003348</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=Geraldine McCaughrean and Richard Brassey
+
|isbn=1609809173
|title=Great Stories from British 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=''Since when was History True?'' is the heading of the first chapter and it's one which you need to read ''before'' you buy this beautiful book, because it would be easy to assume from the title and the pictures on the cover that it's a history ''text'' book you're going to invest in.  In ''some'' ways you are but what you are actually acquiring is a ''story'' book.  This is a book of the great stories of British history. Some of them are (broadly) true, some have been debunked by historians and some have simply fallen into disuse but Geraldine McCaughrean would hate to see them lost altogether.
+
|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>1444001426</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1848576536
|author=Betty G Birney
+
|title=Humanatomy: How the Body Works
|title=Humphrey's World of Pets
+
|author=Nicola Edwards and Jem Maybank
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=
+
|summary=''Get under your own skin, pick your brains, and go inside your insides!''
The verb to pet means to cosset, pay loving attention to, to have loving, touching time with.  It might as well mean to have in your household while spending a lot of money on, and being duty-bound and beholden to.  Fish (which you can't even properly pet, of course) need a permanent power supply for their water's thermometer.  Chinchillas need a special sand for their bathing in.  There's even pet-friendly detergents for washing out your hamster cages.  Wherever you look there's time and money expenditure in owning a pet.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571270263</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{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=David Borgenicht
 
|title=WCS Junior SurviveoPedia HC (Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook Junior Editions)
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=You probably recall all the Worst-Case Scenario books that were a big publishing phenomenon about a decade ago.  They itemised things that might be a cause for concern, whether in the office, or the dating world, or the jungle.  And then they seemed to run out of info, and vanish.  But worry not, for the main instigator, David Borgenicht, is back, with a range of similar books for the junior audience. And here he offers a large format encyclopaedia pictorially warning us about dangers in the world around us, and offering advice for us to memorise so we can escape as best we can.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>081187690X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Caitlin Watson and Vic Le Billon
+
|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=Marvin and Milo: Adventures in Science
+
|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=My dad studied physics, and I think he was always a little disappointed that I didn't fall in love with the subject tooPerhaps if he'd had a Marvin and Milo book to share with me things would've been different? Marvin and Milo are a cat and a dog who like doing experiments, and this book contains 45 of their experiments which you are most definitely encouraged to try at home!
+
|summary=Emily found words ''useful'', but counting was what she loved bestObviously, 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>0230758495</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Buckingham_Dawn
|author=Camilla de la Bedoyere, Clive Gifford, John Farndon, Steve Parker, Stewart Ross and Philip Steele
+
|title=The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus
|title=Discover the Extreme World
+
|author=Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|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 explainedThe 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 wordsIt's fun and (say it quietly) it's educational.
+
|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 morningI spent an indulgent hour or so reading all about the birds and listening to their songThen - 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>184810474X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Pankhurst_Women
|author=Richard Brassey
+
|title=Fantastically Great Women Who Made History
|title=The Story of the Olympics
+
|author=Kate Pankhurst
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=It's the story of the Olympics from earliest times – 776 BC and the first Games at Olympia right through to the 2012 Games in London and even a few hints about how things might be different for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. It's told in the form which seems to appeal to every child – the comic strip – but don't be mislead into thinking that this is light-weight or superficial. It's anything but.
+
|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>1444000489</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ignotofsky_Sport
|author=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner
+
|title=Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win
|title=The Comic Strip Big Fat Book of Knowledge
+
|author=Rachel Ignotofsky
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Graphic Novels
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Who doesn't like a nice comic, eh? There's something so accessible about the lovely picture and text combos, and facts are far from dull when they come via speech bubbles, don't you think? Taking full advantage of this fact, Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner have, for some time, been creating factual books for children which pass on their insight and Important Information through the medium of comics. Now for the first time, you can collect 3 of their titles in one simple volume. Combining the previous reviewed [[The Comic Strip History of the World by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|History of the World]]  and [[The Comic Strip History of Space by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|History of Space]] with the ''Greatest Greek Myths''
+
|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>1408808242</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Rooney_Dino
|author=Judy Bartkowiak
+
|title=Discovering Dinosaurs
|title=So You've Passed Your Driving Test... What Now? Advanced Driving Skills For Young Drivers
+
|author=Anne Rooney and Suzanne Carpenter
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=It's always struck me that the most difficult time for young drivers is that period just after they pass their driving test.  Someone has told you that you're an OK driver, right?  ''But'' you're out there, all on your own, without anyone to explain those odd things which you still haven't come across or to be the extra pair of eyes.  You've got a sense of freedom, but somehow it's a little bit ''daunting''. Judy Bartkowiak offers something a little bit different.  It's not another book about road signs, driving etiquette and stopping distances – it's some ideas for getting into the right mindset to absorb the new experiences and learning some skills which might help you in other areas of your life too.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908218371</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jason Heller
 
|title=The Captain Jack Sparrow Handbook: A Guide to Swashbuckling with the Pirates of the Caribbean
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=You don't see pirates reading many books. If you ask me, it's because their hooks make the pages hard to turn.  Of course, the salty damp air would do nothing for a book's longevity, just one more reason to make sure you've read and understood this before you take to the ocean wave and set sail on your adventures.
+
|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>1594745048</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mason_poo
|author=Claudia Myatt
+
|title=The Poo That Animals Do
|title=Go Green! A Young Person's Guide to the Blue Planet
+
|author=Paul Mason and Tony de Saulles
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Go Green!? Forget that title. What planet does that come from? Let's start again. This fantastic book is about the ''blue'' stuff, everything from oceans to raindrops. The book covers just about every angle that a child passionate about water might conceivably find of interest – marine creatures, icebergs, sunken volcanoes, tsunamis, undersea exploration, bores and whirlpools, inland waterways, tides, lochs and locks. There are answers to lots of questions of the 'Why is the sea blue?' variety. Sandwiched into this comprehensive guide to the physical geography and biodiversity of the seas (probably enough for GCSE) is a large dollop of green ketchup, to be sure, but my instinctive reaction is that here is the best children's introduction to 'water' that I've ever seen.
+
|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>1906435014</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Lindsey Fraser
 
|title=J K Rowling: the Mystery of Fiction
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Easily one of the most renowned authors of the 21st century, J.K. Rowling's incredibly successful Harry Potter series shook the core of the literary world. It provoked a reaction, the likes of which have never been seen before, and likely never will. A unique set of factors combined in order for the Harry Potter books to reach the level of success they enjoyed, and these factors are explored in this biography of Rowling.  It is difficult not to be fascinated by the person who is responsible for the phenomenon that is Harry Potter, and although writing is a profession that doesn't have a typical path by which it can be reached, Rowling's story is anything but orthodox, and her personal 'rags to riches' story only enhances the Harry Potter legacy.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906134693</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Children's Rhymes and Verse Reviews]]
|author=Michael Bond
 
|title=Paddington's Guide to London
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Some things are just a brilliant idea.  Young Paddington Bear has written a guide book to his adopted home in the way that only he could do it.  All his old friends are there – Mr and Mrs Brown and their children Jonathan and Judy along with their housekeeper Mrs Bird and of course we mustn't forget Paddington's old friend Mr Gruber who has an encyclopaedic knowledge of London.  So, where is Paddington planning to take you?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007415915</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

1913750353.jpg

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

0711266204.jpg

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

0192779230.jpg

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

1800464495.jpg

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

1406395404.jpg

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

1849767343.jpg

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

1776572858.jpg

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

0228818826.jpg

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

1609809173.jpg

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

1848576536.jpg

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

Langford Emily.jpg

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

Buckingham Dawn.jpg

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

Pankhurst Women.jpg

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

Ignotofsky Sport.jpg

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

Rooney Dino.jpg

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

Mason poo.jpg

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

Move on to Newest Children's Rhymes and Verse Reviews