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Would You Believe...Vatican City is a country?! by Richard Platt (view source)
Revision as of 11:27, 7 August 2020
, 11:27, 7 August 2020no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox2
|title=Would You Believe...Vatican City is a country?!
|author=Richard Platt
|reviewer=John Lloyd
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=An enjoyable entry in a very bright and engaging series of trivia and knowledge for the primary school -age child, concerning cities and geography.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=48
|publisher=OUP Oxford
|date=April 2010
|isbn=978-0199119707
|amazonukaznuk=<amazonuk>0199119708</amazonuk>|amazonusaznus=0199119708|cover=<amazonus>0199119708</amazonus>
}}
But that is a minor fault, and if I had a child interested in the subject matter of any of these ten books I would like them to enjoy a book such as this. It presents its facts in a handy way, via a couple of paragraphs only on each topic, and copious captions for very well-chosen pictures. It does not have any editorial slant, is accurate, very well produced, and covers its ground quickly and surprisingly comprehensively.
The book does not just introduce the child to the fairly obvious concept of the city, but discusses how they have changed through the millennia, and goes into several different aspects of city life, from the services, to the concentration of crime some of them have had to much notoriety. I liked very much the list of old names tentatively given the skyscraper phenomenon, such as sky-batterers, and cloud-supporters.
In my limited experience of juvenile non-fiction , I don’t think this range is ideal for the home – I am sure there are further, more comprehensive reads out there on any of the subjects in the series. But for the school librarian, this book and the others I have experienced will, I am sure, handily replace many older volumes, with a perfectly up-to-date and very enjoyable learning experience.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
If this book appeals then young readers might also enjoy [[Would You Believe...two cyclists invented the aeroplane?! by Richard Platt]]. You might also enjoy [[Would You Believe...bed testers get paid to sleep?! by Richard Platt]].
{{amazontext|amazon=0199119708}} {{waterstonestextamazonUStext|waterstonesamazon=66207430199119708}}
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[[Category:Confident Readers]]