Month: November 2023

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Start Small, Think Big

It is always a delight to welcome a new publisher to the world of children’s books, so I am very happy to be asked to take part in this blog tour for the relatively young publisher ‘Mama makes Books‘, which started in 2020.  They are celebrating the launch of the first two titles in a new series  called “Start Small, Think Big“.  This is a series of factual books aimed at the  young newly confident reader, but which can be shared with those who are slightly younger.  The launch of these titles also celebrates the fact that this is National Non-Fiction November.

As someone who has been involved with Information books over many years (it is a lot, I promise you) I am thrilled by the wonderful books that are being produced today.  These two beauties are no exception and they really do focus the attention from the moment you catch sight of the covers.  Physically the books are just the right size for a child to hold and the number of pages (18, +foldout) means that they are not tiring for the reader.  I particularly love the use of a cut-out on the front cover, so that the reader is instantly drawn in to the inside pages.

“Little, Brown Nut”  by Mary Auld and Dawn Cooper takes us into the magical world of the Amazonian rainforest, where we follow the life cycle of the Brazil nut.  Until now I had only thought of these nuts in relation to Christmas and tins of chocolates!  However, their life cycle is absolutely fascinating and particularly the fact that the Agouti is one of the only animals that is able to actually crack the shell of the nut.  This led me on to wonder whether the animals are endangered by the loss of rainforest and what impact that would have on the nut trees.  Luckily the book explains about the ‘castaneros’; these are natives of the Amazon who harvest the nuts, whilst also maintaining and protecting the trees from the large logging companies.  I love the vibrant use of colour in the illustrations, which seem to perfectly reflect the vivid and wide ranging vegetation and animal  life in the environment.

 

 

 

“Small, Speckled Egg” by Mary Auld and Anna Terreros Martin is set in a totally different part of the world and shows us the life cycle of an Arctic tern.  These beautiful birds live in some of the harshest environments that you can imagine and they are the target for a wide range of creatures, from polar bears to seagulls and foxes.  The illustrations for this book are absolutely beautiful and show the life process, from the egg to the moment when the new terns follow their parents as the migrate south in the autumn.  There is a delicacy in the line drawings and the subdued use of colour, which really emphasizes the world that these birds live in.  I particularly love one page, where the bird shows how it can glide, hover and dive; the illustrator has managed to really capture these movements, especially the hovering.

A feature of this series is that the final page layout consists of a foldout , which expands into a map and shows not only the migration of the birds and the location of the rain forests, but also gives information to further our knowledge of the areas.  Because these books are aimed at a young age group and do not have a huge number of pages, they do not have any of the added extras such as index or glossary.  However, these are books that are going to work perfectly on a one to one basis, both in school and at home.  They are full of information, but can also be read as narrative non-fiction, where the story is just as important.

These books are delightful and have raised high expectations for future titles in the series.  They really need to find a home in every primary school.

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‘Wonderful Water’, celebrating National Non-fiction November

I am delighted that I have again been asked to share some fabulous Information books with you, as part of #NNFN2023.  The theme of this year’s blog tour is “Wonderful Water” and if you check out the hashtag  you will discover a fantastic selection of books for both home and school.  the two books that I have been asked to review are from Flying Eye books and although they are written for different series, they both have the same author; however, there are two different illustrators, which brings a variation to the look and feel of the books.

Flying Eye, 9781838740931

Scientist in the Wild: Galapagos by Helen Scales and Romolo D’Hipolito

This gives us a look at one of the most inaccessible areas of the world, although this is less the case than it was even 30 years ago.   The book is framed around the work of 7 scientists, aboard the research ship Sula and it seems to be aimed at KS1 and lower KS2.  The book is full of illustrations and the sections of text are short, with an overview and then more detail about specific creatures or environments.  Some of the facts that we see are quite shocking; for instance there used to be a population of about 1,000 on the islands, but this has grown to about 30,000 and there are around 250,000 visitors (tourists) every year.  In the book we get to see the work of the scientists and to build our understanding of the changes that mankind is bringing to the area.  There is a fascinating section about how they tag Tiger Sharks and I was really taken by the description of something called “tonic immobility”, where the shark is turned on its back and  goes into a trance like state.  The whole book is full of amazing information about the wildlife, flora and history of the Galapagos.  We always think of the islands in relation to Charles Darwin, but this title shows us that adaption to the environment is still going on and that we have lots of valuable lessons to learn about saving the natural world.

Earth’s Incredible Places: The Great barrier Reef by Helen Scales and Lisk Feng

Flying Eye, 9781838741471

This second title is about one of the most incredible natural wonders of the world and one that is suffering because of the climate change that is affecting water temperatures in the oceans.  Again, this is aimed at lower KS2 and also KS1 , with the same clarity of text, but with longer sections which require a bit more reading stamina.  The author has not limited herself to the coral and fish who live in the reef, but also covers the links with Aboriginal people throughout history and then the arrival of westerners and the impact that they made on the environment.  The sections about plastic pollution and about the use of fossil fuels brings the story up to date and highlights the issues that need addressing urgently.     The illustrations are so full of colour and life, but they are all very different, depending on the subject that is being discussed.  For example the section about the Aboriginal people and some of their beliefs, is very subdued with a sense that they hark back to the wonderful rock drawings that are found in tribal lands.  In contrast, we have the bright, vivid colours of creatures such as starfish and octopuses, whilst the cover itself uses extremely bright, almost fluorescent colours, that really catch the eye.

Both of these books make wonderful introductions to the oceans that surround us and the immense diversity of wildlife, both flora and fauna that are found there.  However, they also highlight the importance of trying to improve the quality of the environment and not destroy the world in which we live.  These books will make an excellent addition to the school or public library and will spark discussion about  “Wonderful Water”.