Big, hard-cover book with lots of pictures, all about “How our planet was formed, shaped and continuously changes”. This is a Geology and Weather book for primary-to-intermediate kids. It’s not quite as visually engaging as the other book in this series that I have seen (Planet Earth), but perhaps that’s because the earth and sky are predominantly brown and grey, and don’t have the same visual WOW as parrots in a rainforest 🙂
I’m liking
The big hard-cover format is great for browsing, and means that there is plenty of space for full-page colour images (on every single page), and still have room for well-spaced text.
The information is well-organised and easy to locate, with a good index in the back. As an educator, this is a big plus, and makes the book a useful teaching resource – as does the format of each sub-topic being a double-page spread with all the information visible at once.
The ‘ideas for parents and teachers’ page at the back is also great, with some very do-able practical activities and experiments for hands-on learning.
Things that made me go hmmmm
When my children saw this book, it just didn’t spin their wheels. But then, they are more horse/dolphin/dragon type girls. I’m afraid that geothermal power, tornadoes and erosion were just never going to be a huge hit, no matter how well-presented!
The conclusion
This book is a good fit with the “Planet Earth and Beyond” strand of the NZ curriculum, and contains some great information, very attractively presented, as well as some great activity suggestions that could get the ball rolling for some Science Fair projects.
