Changes

It can be difficult to pitch a fact-based book to a child; too much information will alienate the younger children whilst simplification will make it dull for an older kid. Mick Manning has come up with a great idea that caters for both audiences within the same book. The central image of each two page spread is a picture and a rhyming story that you would find in a typical book for 3-5 year olds, but there is also a series of factoids on the edge of each page to intrigue a 6-10 year old. Added to this, a toddler can have great fun just looking at Brita Granstrom's colourful and inviting images. You can possibly cover all three children in one book – a rare occurrence.

With ''Woolly Mammoth'' doing a great job combining a fiction like story with non-fiction facts it is only some of Granstrom's illustrations that let the side down. They drift slightly too much into the fiction side of things. Whilst the book tells a story, it is kept historically accurate throughout. Did Mammoths really smile? This type of detail is at odds with the tone of the rest of the book.