Top 10 of Everything 2015 by Paul Terry
| Top 10 of Everything 2015 by Paul Terry | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Louise Jones
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| Summary: A fun, interactive book filled to the brim with facts and figures to delight and surprise. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 320 | Date: July 2014 |
| Publisher: Hamlyn | |
| ISBN: 9780600628866 | |
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The Top 10 of Everything 2015 is, as the title implies, a compilation of 'top ten' lists covering a wide variety of topics including the natural world, pop culture, sport and technology. The style of the book will appeal to its target audience of pre-teens with its use of bright colours, vibrant images, fun facts, puzzles and quizzes.
The book is divided into ten distinct sections, each covering a different subject. At the end of each section, a review page invites young readers to compile their own top ten lists and also features a short quiz and puzzle section which serves as a memory test. There is also a 'Career Quiz', which is a light-hearted personality test designed to help children to understand where their strengths and interests lie.
There is nothing understated about this book. Each section has been assigned a particular colour, which is a useful tool when trying to locate a specific subject. A lot of thought has gone into the layout of each page and the images really stand out. The lists themselves are in bold primary colours and the pages also contain little fact boxes that draw the reader in. Each page contains lots of interesting information and there is something new to discover every time you open the book.
From an adult viewpoint, I preferred the sections about the natural world, although my young son turned straight to the video games section. This book really does have something for everyone and none of the content is above a 12 rating so parents won't have to worry about their children seeing unsuitable films or games in any of the lists. That said, particularly sensitive individuals may wish to avoid the section about human parasites and the picture of the man with a nose grafted onto his forehead!
I found the lists fascinating, but wasn't so enamoured with the 'unofficial' lists, which seemed to be random lists generated by the authors in order to fill space. Examples of such lists include: Most Loveable Animated Characters, Best Superhero Weapons and Coolest Looking Games Consoles. The contents of these lists had no statistical basis and were purely based on the opinion of a few individuals and therefore seemed to serve no real purpose.
This is an interactive and informative fact book that would make a perfect gift and is ideal for perusing on a rainy day. Children will be instantly attracted by the contemporary visual style of the book and the fact that it can be 'dipped into' and returned to time and time again. Reluctant readers, who don't like the idea of reading a story from cover to cover, may be more comfortable with this sort of book. I had a lot of fun reading with it and thank the publishers for my review copy.
Bookbag has a few top ten lists of its own too. Young readers may enjoy looking at the books in our Top Ten Books for Confident Readers 2013
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You can read more book reviews or buy Top 10 of Everything 2015 by Paul Terry at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
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