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

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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1839948493
|title=Ripley's Believe It or Not! 2014
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|title=A World of Dogs
|author=Robert Leroy Ripley
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|author=Carlie Sorosiak and Luisa Uribe
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I don't normally do annuals. I'm afraid too many of the silly cartoon variety put me off the genre, but this is something completely different. It seems a shame to even call it an annual. Instead I would call this an interactive encyclopaedia of the bizarre, unusual, twisted and absolutely delightful facts that challenge you to 'Believe it or not!'
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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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847947166</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529507987
|title=Horrid Henry's World Records
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|title=The Repair Shop Craft Book
|author=Francesca Simon and Tony Ross
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|author=Walker Books and Sonia Albert (Illustrator)
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|rating=4.5
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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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?
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=024162343X
 +
|title=Stolen History
 +
|author=Sathnam Sanghera
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|rating=5
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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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''.
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Jeremy Dronfield and David Ziggy Greene
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|title=Fritz and Kurt
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=My son chose this book because he does like Horrid Henry, and he especially loves books with facts. As a parent, I have tried to supply my children with a wide choice of reading material, but I have to admit, I have leaned more towards fiction than non fiction simply because I mistakenly assumed it would be more fun. Girls do tend to prefer fiction, so I based my choices upon my own childhood reading habits. But when my sons began to beg for ''books a bout real things'', I saw the error of my ways.
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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>1444009214</amazonuk>
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|isbn=024156574X
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1913750353
|title=Dork Diaries OMG: All About Me Diary!
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|title=Britannica's Word of the Day
|author=Rachel Renee Russell
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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=I feel a pattern forming.  After three books in the [[:Category:Rachel Renee Russell|Dork Diaries series]] came a throw-away, [[Dork Diaries: How to Dork Your Diary by Rachel Renee Russell|tie-in volume]] that offered a bit of a story to it but was not full-on plot and action like the routine books.  After six real novels comes this, where for the first time the star of the book really is not Nikki Maxwell, but whoever buys it (or gets it bought for them).  This is where the franchise branches away from fiction, to cover the purchaser or fan of the series, and gives her the chance to spill about herself, her school life, and her BFFs.  I think this is where I'm supposed to go ''SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!''
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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>1471117731</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
 
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|isbn=0711266204
{{newreview
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|title=The Secret Life of Birds
|title=100 People
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|author=Moira Butterfield and Vivian Mineker (illustrator)
|author=Masayuki Sebe
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|summary=If I told you this was a book in which every double page spread features exactly 100 people, and there’s no real story to go with it, you might be underwhelmed. You might wonder what the point would be. But I can tell you in one word: fun.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1877579866</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|title=Top 10 For Boys 2014
 
|author=Paul Terry
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=OK, I'll admit – sometimes there comes a time when it would appear terribly easy to post a review of a book, when something so self-explanatory pops up that a description of it hardly seems necessaryAnd you can judge the contents of this book similarly easily too – it takes the ''Top Ten of Everything'' format developed by the late Russell Ash, and makes it funkier, smaller, more brashly colourful, and apparently, suitable for boysThere are unofficial, opinionated lists, and bits where kids can scribble their own content and ratings.  But despite how easy it is to get a handle on the book, I do hereby solemnly swear etc that I read almost every word, and just as I should, even no longer being a boy I learned a lot.
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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 basisAn 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>0600623459</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0192779230
|title=Make a Mobile: 12 Cool Designs to Press Out and Hang
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|author=Lydia Crook
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|author=Isabel Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Crafts
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=''Make a Mobile'' is a delightful crafting book crammed full of projects for parents and children to share. The book contains 12 unique designs that fit together beautifully and are surprisingly easy to make. The perforated pages allow the components of each mobile to be simply pushed out from the page without the need for nimble scissor skills.
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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>1908005807</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1800464495
|title=Space in 30 Seconds
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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
|author=Clive Gifford and Dr Mike Goldsmith
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|author=Emma Smith
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Back when I was a lad, and reading books on space science from my school library, they were nothing like this.  There was little that was as colourful, no recap for every page, no homework suggestions, and certainly there was nothing as up-to-date as exoplanets or the latest dimensions of the International Space Station.  Many of the changes are valuable, and make this volume quite a success.
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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>1908005734</amazonuk>
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Did you know this? I didn't! How about:
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''Maths ability on entry to school is a strong predictor of later achievement, double that of literacy skills.''
  
{{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.
|title=Myths in 30 Seconds
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}} 
|author=Anita Ganeri
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{{Frontpage
|rating=4
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|isbn=1406395404
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|title=The Awesome Power of Sleep: How Sleep Super-Charges Your Teenage Brain
|summary=Back when I was a lad, and reading books on mythology from my school library, they were nothing like this.  There was no full-colour, no recaps, no homework suggestions, and certainly there was not the global PC-flavoured reach that broadened things out from Greek, Roman and the occasional bit of Norse mythYou'll excuse me if I say why in this instance all those changes aren't completely for the better.
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|author=Nicola Morgan
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1908005742</amazonuk>
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|rating=5
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|genre=Teens
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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 problemsSome 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 lazinessBeing up early, working late has been praised and the ability to survive on little sleep has almost become something to put on your CV.
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767343
|title=Paper Play
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|title=Count on Me
|author=Lydia Crook
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|author=Miguel Tanco
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Crafts
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Paper Play is a virtual time machine, taking us back to an era before the PC, tablet and games console, when children had the ability to amuse themselves for hours with a few sheets of paper, some scissors and some glue. Simple papercraft skills were passed down from generation to generation, arming creative minds with a seemingly endless supply of crafting ideas, including paper dress-up dolls, flying contraptions and finger puppets.
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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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0762449578</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767009
|author=Libby Abadee and Cath Armstrong
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|title=It Isn't Rude to be Nude
|title=Craft it Up Around the World
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|author=Rosie Haine
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=For Sharing
|summary=With long summer holidays looming ahead along with uncertain British weather it's alway a good idea to have plans about activities which will involve and interest children.  In ''Craft it Up Around the World'' we've got thirty five suggestions for projects which will keep children entertainedAs the title suggests we're going on a world tour and you can pick the projects to suit other activities you have planned, as a reminder of a holiday or just on a random basis.
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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 hue.  Bodies with disabilities and markings.  They're fine.  In fact, they're wonderful.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782490388</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776572858
|title=Read On - Unsolved Mysteries
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|author=Keith West
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
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|genre=Home and Family
|summary=''Collins Read On'' books are not specifically listed as a dyslexia friendly line of books. Instead, these are what is known as hi-lo books. Book developed to motivate and engage older readers, while still being accessible to readers who are reading far below grade level. I would estimate the reading level of this book to be roughly age eight, but the subject matter is apt to appeal to children much older, or even adults. Although not designed especially for children with dyslexia like the famous Barrington Stoke range, this does have several features to make this book more appropriate to children with dyslexia than the average children's book. With the exception of a few small picture captions, this is printed in black ink with a large standard font. The print is double spaced, with short paragraphs and chapters giving the reader plenty of breaks. The paper is thick enough that print and pictures from the other side will not show through. This combined with the easy to read text will help to build a child's confidence.  
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|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>0007488904</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1526362759
|author=Dougal Dixon
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|title=Dosh: How to Earn It, Save It, Spend It, Grow It, Give It
|title=If Dinosaurs Were Alive Today
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|author=Rashmi Sirdeshpande
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The book starts with a simple question. How would we cope, how would dinosaurs cope if they had not become extinct and were around today? They're put in context, going back to the beginnings of Planet Earth four and a half billion years ago and working forward to show how life evolved and asking if the skills the dinosaurs developed would allow them to survive today. The four groups of dinosaurs - plant-eaters, meat-eaters, ocean-dwellers and flying reptiles - are then looked at in some detail.
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|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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848985762</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=178112938X
|author=Judith Kerr
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|title=Survival in Space: The Apollo 13 Mission
|title=Judith Kerr's Creatures: A Celebration of the Life and Work of Judith Kerr
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|author=David Long and Stefano Tambellini (illustrator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Autobiography
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|genre=Dyslexia Friendly
|summary=In children's literature there are some authors whom you know are not just reliable, but always impressive.  One of those names is [[:Category:Judith Kerr|Judith Kerr]].  For decades she's been delighting our children (and grandchildren) but it still came as something of a surprise to discover that she would be ninety in June 2013To celebrate this, Harper Collins have published ''Creatures'' in which Judith tells not just her own story but that of the ''creatures'' - the characters in her books and her family - who have contributed to her inspirational life.  It is, though, far more than just an autobiography with a marvellous collection of paintings, drawings and memorabilia.
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|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>0007513216</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Kathleen Boucher and Sara Chadwick
|author=Sharky and George
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|title=Nine Ways to Empower Tweens
|title=Don't You Dare
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Older readers like myself may recognise a great many of Sharky and George's ideas from our own childhood games, in the days when children's games usually did take place outdoors. Most of us will have played games like torch tag (which is enemy spotlight in this book), cops and robbers, boxes with a pen and paper, made drip sand castles, skimmed a stone or built a dam in childhood. So you might ask - why do need a book to teach us games we already know how to play? The sad fact is, most of these games are rapidly being forgotten. I rarely see children other than my own play any type of tag or hide and seek games.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405258292</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Davide Cali and Gabrriella Giandelli
 
|title=Monsters and Legends
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Confident Readers
 
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary=My sons love stories of unsolved mysteries, monsters and mythical creatures.  Like many boys, my oldest has a very strong leaning towards the non-fiction side of things. This book is for children who want to know how the legends were born, if any of the creatures could be real, and what the science behind the story is. I do feel this book is better suited to older children seeking a more rational explanation to the old stories, but my youngest did enjoy it as well. It might be useful for a child with a slight fear of monsters to get a more realistic view of them, but I would use caution with a child who is truly terrified of monsters as it might just give them more things to be afraid of.
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|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.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1909263036</amazonuk>
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|isbn= 0228818826
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{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Punk Science
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|isbn=1609809173
|title=Do Try This at Home: Cook It!!
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|title=Eiffel's Tower for Young People
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|author=Jill Jonnes
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=''Do Try This At Home - Cook It!!'' is a fun, very boy friendly ( but not just for boys) cookbook combining very basic recipes, science facts and a few science experiments with food. Not every recipe in this book includes science facts and in some the science bit is limited to mentioning vitamins or giving us a very simple fact like the fact a tomato is a fruit, or a water chestnut isn't really a nut. But other recipes have quite a bit of scientific information. For instance this will tell you why cooking makes an egg hard, but  makes cheese softer. Children will learn what an emulsion is, why onions make us cry, how yeast works, how to make a bouncing rubber-like egg and how to make a colour changing cabbage solution that will tell if a substance is acid or alkaline.
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|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>1447205537</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1848576536
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|title=Humanatomy: How the Body Works
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|author=Nicola Edwards and Jem Maybank
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|rating=5
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|summary=''Get under your own skin, pick your brains, and go inside your insides!''
  
{{newreview
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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=Glenn Murphy
 
|title=Super Geek, Dinosaurs, Brains and Supertrains
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Super Geek, Dinosaurs, Brains and Supertrains is divided into eight sections. The first four sections are questions on dinosaurs and prehistoric life, the human brain,  natural disasters and finally transport. The following four sections are much longer and provide not only the answers to the previous sections' questions, but a detailed, scientific explanation in clear easy to understand language that even my four year old can usually follow. These answers are very well written and quite interesting to both of my children, and even as an adult I found this both educational and entertaining. I have to admit, I learned a few things from this book as well, and we will certainly be brushing up on our knowledge of the human brain before bringing this out again.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1447227166</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Melissa Wareham
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|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=Rescuing Gus
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|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Melissa Wareham was ''convinced'' that she must be adopted: how could someone like her who ''loved'' dogs have been born to parents who, well, wouldn't have them in the house? She wasn't even that convinced when her mother produced her birth certificateMelissa wouldn't be able to have a dog until she had a home of her own but in the meantime she got a job at Battersea Dogs' Home and it was there that she met GusHe wasn't in the first flush of youth and his breath was a weapon of mass destruction, but he and Melissa bonded and when he was very poorly - he had kennel cough - she took him home.
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|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 numbersThen 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>1849418179</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Buckingham_Dawn
|author=Terry Deary and Martin Brown
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|title=The Little Book of the Dawn Chorus
|title=Deadly Days in History (Horrible Histories)
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|author=Caz Buckingham and Andrea Pinnington
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Confident Readers
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Horrible Histories' catch phrase is History - with all the nasty bits left in. This is not completely true, Scholastic is not going to print a children's book with details which are too graphic for children, but this is without a doubt the nastiest and most gruesome of all of the Horrible Histories books we have read. While I am happy enough reading most of the Horrible Histories books to my 4 year old as well as my 8 year old, I do think this one is best for the older children, would recommend a minimum age of 7, and this only if the child is already aware of the Holocaust, or the parent is prepared to broach this subject in a sensitive manner and provide further information.
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|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>1407121456</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Pankhurst_Women
|author=Paul Moran
+
|title=Fantastically Great Women Who Made History
|title=What If... Humans Were Like Animals?
+
|author=Kate Pankhurst
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary='What If Humans Were More Like Animals' takes various unusual animal attributes and imagines what it would be like if humans had an equivalent behaviour, ability, or physical feature. For instance, if we had teeth like a shark, we wouldn't have to worry about eating too many sweets, brushing our teeth, or even chomping down on a hard object. Whenever a tooth fell out, a new one would take its place. If we had the comparative strength of a Hercules beetle, we could lift a double decker bus, and if we could jump the equivalent of a froghopper insect, we'd be able to leap over sky scrapers with ease. Not all of the animal traits would be so much fun though. We wouldn't want our parents to eat us if we were not as strong as our siblings like the vole, and while eyes on our hands like a starfish might have a few advantages, it would be very awkward as well - who wants to pick things up with their eyes?
+
|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>1780550421</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ignotofsky_Sport
|author=Alan Snow
+
|title=Women in Sport: Fifty Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win
|title=How Dinosaurs Really Work
+
|author=Rachel Ignotofsky
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=It’s sometimes difficult to find books which appeal to reluctant readers, particularly boys.    Three cheers, then, for Alan Snow who has produced a really smashing book about those ever-popular dinosaurs. Here is a book which will appeal not only to bright kids during their inevitable dinosaur phase, and also to more struggling readers, a little later on.  This is exactly the sort of book kids can pore over for several weeks on end in order to become something of an authority on prehistoric animals in front of their mates.
+
|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>0857073141</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Rooney_Dino
|author=Tony Robinson
+
|title=Discovering Dinosaurs
|title=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders - World War II
+
|author=Anne Rooney and Suzanne Carpenter
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Tony Robinson's Weird World of Wonders is an informative, easy to read book for children covering WW2. I would describe it as something of a cross between a school text book and Terry Deary's Horrible Histories series - as much as I am certain Mr Deary would shudder at the thought of any of his books being crossed with a text book. This isn't quite facts, facts and nothing but the facts, it does break things up with humour, but I would describe this as book meant to teach history, unlike Deary's books which I would describe as books which make reading fun, and just happen to inform children on history as well.
+
|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>1447227689</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mason_poo
|author=Terry Deary
+
|title=The Poo That Animals Do
|title=The Beastly Best Bits (Horrible Histories)
+
|author=Paul Mason and Tony de Saulles
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Horrible Histories: The Beastly Best Bits begins with a brief introduction by a black clad executioner who looks like he has stepped of the pages of the [[Terrifying Tudors (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary|Horrible Histories Terrifying Tudors]] book. Our friendly executioner will be our guide for the rest of the book, pointing out some of the most gruesome moments in history. After some classic gallows humour and a brief mention of Vlad the Impaler we begin the tour with ancient Mesopotamia.  The book includes the Assyrians, Sumerians, Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, Vikings, Normans, Samurai Aztecs, Incas, Irish and Americans. It also covers several different periods of English history, gangsters in The Roaring 20's, the first and second world wars, and a quick section on Ruthless Rulers.
+
|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>1407136100</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Children's Rhymes and Verse Reviews]]
|author=Terry Deary
 
|title=Terrifying Tudors (Horrible Histories)
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=I've always thought Terry Deary was years ahead of his time. He was writing books that boys really wanted to read many years before the current emphasis on boy friendly reading material and all the efforts to close the ever widening gender gap in reading. Horrible Histories have always been brilliant to motivate boys to read, but the older copies do show their age. Progress has been made in the way books are printed to make them more accessible to struggling readers over the last 20 years. Horrible Histories new editions celebrating ''20 Horrible Years'' has addressed this issue and makes the books not only the type of books that boys want to read, but also the type of book that younger children or those with reading difficulties can read.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1407135783</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 13:29, 9 September 2023

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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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

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