Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman
| Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman | |
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| Category: Children's Non-Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Ceri Padley
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| Summary: Will Jellyfish Rule the World? is a wonderful way of teaching children about the importance of looking after our planet. Complete with funny wording, crazy pictures, and activities, Leo Hickman has given us a book everyone can enjoy, and learn something from, together. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 272 | Date: June 2009 |
| Publisher: Puffin | |
| ISBN: 978-0141323343 | |
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Have you ever wondered why it rains so much in Britain? What a glacier and a canary have in common? Or how lizards once managed to sunbathe in Antarctica? Green expert Leo Hickman is here to answer all these questions and more in his new book, Will Jellyfish Rule the World?
It's never too early to learn the basic facts about climate change. Will Jellyfish Rule the World? is a perfect introduction to everything us grown ups seem to be worrying about on a daily basis. By simplifying the most important facts for children, Hickman informs but never patronises his young readers on everything they'd need to know about carbon emissions, the Greenhouse Effect, melting ice caps, and much, much more.
Cutting up his chapters into funky sections filled with pictures, diagrams, and wacky fonts, Hickman keeps his readers' attention focused on what might be seen as a boring but important subject. His methods of teaching, while never forgetting his audience, are wonderful: To demonstrate how long we've been on this planet, he uses a diagram of a clock, explaining that if each hour represented one billion years, we are currently only at half past four; Holding on to stories children are already familiar with, he compares Earth's need for just that right amount of sunlight to the story of Goldilocks. The atmosphere becomes a big blanket; Gravity is compared to magnets.
I can't stress enough how important it is that every parent get their children a copy of this book. Even if you don't know too much about climate change, this is a perfect opportunity to learn a thing or two with them, and Hickman even includes some fun green activities all the family can do for their part in trying to save the planet. Not only that but you'll get to find out the answer to the dreaded title question.
If there's anything wrong with children's writers, it's when the author talks down to his/her young readers and overly-explains things in a manner which suggests children have barely any intelligence. Luckily, though Leo Hickman has a limited experience in writing for children as he regularly writes for The Guardian newspaper, he's hit the nail on the head. He needs children to pay attention and take note on the serious matters that'll be affecting their generations, and he does so by communicating on a one-to-one basis: you could almost imagine him crouching down to his reader and saying, You understand what I'm saying. You know you can do something about it.
And while us grown-ups are seeing the scary side of climate change all over the news, Will Jellyfish Rule the World? is a book filled with fun and non-stop positive suggestions about how we can get together and begin to make things better for everyone.
Anybody already fans of the Horrible History orHorrible Science series of books will enjoy this one. Like those, this book aims to teach but in a new and exciting way.
The book is probably suited best for older children, though those younger might be interested in picking up 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh whilst for those who would like something a little meatier but are not yet ready for Jellyfish we can recommend Planet In Peril by Anita Ganeri and Mike Phillips.
Thank you so much to Book Bag for letting me review this and thank you to the publsihers for sending it. I wish it had been available when I was a child.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman 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 Will Jellyfish Rule the World? by Leo Hickman at Amazon.com.
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