Ultimate Reptileopedia by Christina Wilsdon
| Ultimate Reptileopedia by Christina Wilsdon | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Sam Tyler
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| Summary: Think you know reptiles? Think again as this encyclopaedia is so full of facts and colourful photos that is actually a reptileopedia. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 272 | Date: October 2015 |
| Publisher: National Geographic Society | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781426321030 | |
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Have you ever wanted to know more about reptiles? Scratch that. Have you ever wanted to seemingly know everything that there ever was to know about reptiles? If so, you don't just need a normal encyclopaedia that will have a page or two on the subject, but a Reptileopedia that has more information and images of reptiles in it than you could shake a snake at.
There are children that love fiction and there are children that love non-fiction; some like both, but I have found that if a child has a passion for reading, it is usually one of the other. I have always been a fan of fiction, but my brother, and in turn his sons, are lovers of non-fiction – and I mean lovers. If you hand over a book about animals or space be prepared to be peppered with a series of facts and titbits within a few minutes. A book like Ultimate Reptileopedia by Christina Wilsdon is a cornucopia of information for the non-fiction lover. This is facts done right for kids.
Wilsdon and the National Geographic team have created a very specific book about reptiles that explores the creatures as a whole, but also goes into detail on many different types of snakes etc. Just throwing a child into the world of reptiles is not only unsafe, but also confusing. Ultimate Reptileopedia tackles this immediately by placing the world of reptiles in the greater animal kingdom context; what percentage of all animals are reptiles and what percentage of these are snakes for example. All this is done in a light and conversational tone that makes it easy to read for a developed 7-10 year old.
Once the introduction is complete there is a section that goes into greater detail about reptiles as a whole tackling big questions like – are they cold blooded? The final part is the largest and is a series of breakdowns about specific creatures giving you more facts about the deadliest or the most likely to see. All this information is fun, but would it actually interest most kids? Not really, except that the National Geographic team have also produced a wonderful encyclopaedia in of itself. It comes in the form of an A4 hardback reminiscent of The Guinness Book of Records and is packed to the gills (or should that be scales) with full colour photos that looks amazing.
The Ultimate Reptileopedia is such a great encyclopaedia because it caters for most types of readers; those that like to read from the front to the back and those that like to pick a random page and read. With the information so well written for the right age group, it can rightly call itself an ultimate source. The only real issue is that reptiles is a very definite area and a child with no interest in the subject matter will struggle to find much to interest them.
National Geographic have a range of great books on offer including National Geographic Kids Infopedia 2016 or try an alternative in Predators by Steve Backshall.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Ultimate Reptileopedia by Christina Wilsdon at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Ultimate Reptileopedia by Christina Wilsdon at Amazon.com.
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