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annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
My First Fact File Oceans is part of a series of short fact and exercise books aimed at younger children (K-2+). Released 23rd July 2019 by Quarto on their Ivy Kids imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.
Very well done book, and an interesting and worthwhile series. I've been touting STE(A)M education for decades. This book is engaging and colorful. Facts are presented in context with color gouache paintings on each double page. Relevant information is presented in sidebars. The included STEAM activities are also presented in sidebars at the bottom of the pages. Possibly worth noting, the book uses British spellings: 'mould', 'washing up', etc. The instances are few, and clear in context, so it's not a problem, but probably worthy of comment in a review.
Chapters are short and cover ocean geography, oceanography, different habitats, exploration, food chains, ecology, conservation, and much more. The art style is unpretentious and appealing (see cover).
This would make a great bedtime read or a reading circle or classroom read for young readers, and the series would be great as a part of the homeschool library. There's a short alphabetical glossary included at the end.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
My First Fact File Oceans is part of a series of short fact and exercise books aimed at younger children (K-2+). Released 23rd July 2019 by Quarto on their Ivy Kids imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.
Very well done book, and an interesting and worthwhile series. I've been touting STE(A)M education for decades. This book is engaging and colorful. Facts are presented in context with color gouache paintings on each double page. Relevant information is presented in sidebars. The included STEAM activities are also presented in sidebars at the bottom of the pages. Possibly worth noting, the book uses British spellings: 'mould', 'washing up', etc. The instances are few, and clear in context, so it's not a problem, but probably worthy of comment in a review.
Chapters are short and cover ocean geography, oceanography, different habitats, exploration, food chains, ecology, conservation, and much more. The art style is unpretentious and appealing (see cover).
This would make a great bedtime read or a reading circle or classroom read for young readers, and the series would be great as a part of the homeschool library. There's a short alphabetical glossary included at the end.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
annieb123's review against another edition
5.0
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
My First Fact File Weather is part of a series of short fact and exercise books aimed at younger children (K-2+). Released 23rd July 2019 by Quarto on their Ivy Kids imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.
Very well done book, and an interesting and worthwhile series. I've been touting STE(A)M education for decades. This book is engaging and colorful. Facts are presented in context with color gouache paintings on each double page. Relevant information is presented in sidebars. The included STEAM activities are also presented in sidebars at the bottom of the pages. Possibly worth noting, the book uses British spellings: 'clingfilm', 'kilometres', etc. The instances are few, and clear in context, so it's not a problem, but probably worthy of comment in a review.
Chapters are short and cover the water cycle, clouds, weather, barometric pressure, thunder & lightning, droughts & floods, conservation & climate change, and much more. The art style is unpretentious and appealing (see cover).
This would make a great bedtime read or a reading circle or classroom read for young readers, and the series would be great as a part of a homeschool library. There's a short alphabetical glossary included at the end.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
My First Fact File Weather is part of a series of short fact and exercise books aimed at younger children (K-2+). Released 23rd July 2019 by Quarto on their Ivy Kids imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.
Very well done book, and an interesting and worthwhile series. I've been touting STE(A)M education for decades. This book is engaging and colorful. Facts are presented in context with color gouache paintings on each double page. Relevant information is presented in sidebars. The included STEAM activities are also presented in sidebars at the bottom of the pages. Possibly worth noting, the book uses British spellings: 'clingfilm', 'kilometres', etc. The instances are few, and clear in context, so it's not a problem, but probably worthy of comment in a review.
Chapters are short and cover the water cycle, clouds, weather, barometric pressure, thunder & lightning, droughts & floods, conservation & climate change, and much more. The art style is unpretentious and appealing (see cover).
This would make a great bedtime read or a reading circle or classroom read for young readers, and the series would be great as a part of a homeschool library. There's a short alphabetical glossary included at the end.
Five stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
bargainandbooks's review against another edition
5.0
I vote we have all information presented in this series style. Honestly the images are beautiful and colourful. The information is easy to understand and there is a lot of it. It is interactive and fun.
This is one of the most well done information books I have seen in a long time. I want to own this whole series for my kids.
This is one of the most well done information books I have seen in a long time. I want to own this whole series for my kids.
bargainandbooks's review against another edition
5.0
“Earths oceans help to spread heat from the sun around the globe.” This is one of MANY fun facts from the My First Fact File Weather book. I didn’t know this fact, and it seems like such an obvious thing now that I do. This book was fun to read, informative and interactive. I loved the illustrations and the fun activities throughout.
This type of learning appeals to me because it’s interesting and keeps you involved.
This type of learning appeals to me because it’s interesting and keeps you involved.
midwifekt's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good explanation of basic weather systems, and includes things I'd forgotten like layers of the atmosphere and what the different cloud types are/mean, so that's great. I appreciate that the book even explains rains of frogs. I like the inclusion of the at-home experiments as well. Hands-on learning is so awesome.
I would really love to see a book use a more accurate map than the incorrect Mercator projection. (You can google "Mercator projection distortion" for more info.) Kids books especially have an obligation to get this correct from the very start.
I appreciate the inclusion of climate change and the fact that it will have a drastic impact on weather and that will in turn decrease our ability to live in the world. As always the solutions given are individual, not systemic-level. I'd love to see more "petition governments to hold large businesses accountable" but I guess perhaps that's advanced for a kids' book.
I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I would really love to see a book use a more accurate map than the incorrect Mercator projection. (You can google "Mercator projection distortion" for more info.) Kids books especially have an obligation to get this correct from the very start.
I appreciate the inclusion of climate change and the fact that it will have a drastic impact on weather and that will in turn decrease our ability to live in the world. As always the solutions given are individual, not systemic-level. I'd love to see more "petition governments to hold large businesses accountable" but I guess perhaps that's advanced for a kids' book.
I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
midwifekt's review against another edition
3.0
A fun look at oceans, with good explanations of how the ocean works. The pictures explain things clearly and I love the inclusion of at-home experiments that people can try to see how things work for themselves.
I was gratified to see the discussion about climate change included. I am confused about why the person in the 10,000 years ago dugout boat is so pasty looking instead of brown-skinned. And then we get into sea exploration and "famous" Christopher Columbus, which would probably be better avoided if one isn't able to discuss the issues with the explorers. I think that it would be better to put the plastic pollution box larger, especially if you're going to say that we make plastic from oil from the ocean. That could get confusing very quickly. And I think the "waste harms coral reefs" is not a strong enough sentence - "waste kills coral reefs" would be more clear and honest. Kids are the ones who are going to be making decisions about how to act environmentally in the future, so they need to know the truth now.
One quibble that did not take away from my enjoyment of the story, but which I do want to bring up: "Fish, seals, and whales have smooth, streamlined bodies shaped like torpedoes." Shouldn't it be "Fish, seals, and whales have smooth, streamlined bodies and we shaped torpedoes like them"? Because really, which came first. Also, I don't really expose my kid to war and violence anyway - she's three and I'd read a book about oceans with her but she doesn't need to know what a torpedo is. It's something we're so accustomed to using as an analogy that we don't really think about it, but I think we should.
I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I was gratified to see the discussion about climate change included. I am confused about why the person in the 10,000 years ago dugout boat is so pasty looking instead of brown-skinned. And then we get into sea exploration and "famous" Christopher Columbus, which would probably be better avoided if one isn't able to discuss the issues with the explorers. I think that it would be better to put the plastic pollution box larger, especially if you're going to say that we make plastic from oil from the ocean. That could get confusing very quickly. And I think the "waste harms coral reefs" is not a strong enough sentence - "waste kills coral reefs" would be more clear and honest. Kids are the ones who are going to be making decisions about how to act environmentally in the future, so they need to know the truth now.
One quibble that did not take away from my enjoyment of the story, but which I do want to bring up: "Fish, seals, and whales have smooth, streamlined bodies shaped like torpedoes." Shouldn't it be "Fish, seals, and whales have smooth, streamlined bodies and we shaped torpedoes like them"? Because really, which came first. Also, I don't really expose my kid to war and violence anyway - she's three and I'd read a book about oceans with her but she doesn't need to know what a torpedo is. It's something we're so accustomed to using as an analogy that we don't really think about it, but I think we should.
I received a free eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
solelylu's review against another edition
5.0
Get yourselves a physical copy and then enjoy with your kid. Colourful and factfull you will have a blast with this wonderful book.
Special thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for this review copy.
Special thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for this review copy.
erikasarutobi's review against another edition
5.0
Out of all the fact files, this one is my favorite because it's about the ocean! The book focuses on the ocean geography in the beginning while the other half talks about human activity involving the ocean. I definitely recommend this the most since at the end of the book, it talks about pollution and how to reduce it so I think it's a very good starting point for children to start learning about how to protect and save the environment. The only thing I didn't like is that the tips for this fact file was just a repetition of the summary in each chapter.
I've read each of these fact files before posting the reviews and since they're technically almost the same books, though just with different topics, my reviews may be similar to each other.
What I liked about these fact files was that they were short and to the point. The art is simple but childishly cute and it was nice that they covered the whole page. There are tips and also activities mentioned in some pages.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
*Also Kate seems to have forgotten to remove her instructions from the digital copy.*
I've read each of these fact files before posting the reviews and since they're technically almost the same books, though just with different topics, my reviews may be similar to each other.
What I liked about these fact files was that they were short and to the point. The art is simple but childishly cute and it was nice that they covered the whole page. There are tips and also activities mentioned in some pages.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
*Also Kate seems to have forgotten to remove her instructions from the digital copy.*
erikasarutobi's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars.
This book is focused mostly on the weather and the how's especially about rain, snow and natural disasters because of the weather. My favorite part of the book is how scientists figure out what's going to be the weather in the coming days.
Like the Ocean fact file, it mentions global warming but very briefly compared to the Ocean fact file. The tips as well are just repetition of the summary of the chapter.
I've read each of these fact files before posting the reviews and since they're technically almost the same books, though just with different topics, my reviews may be similar to each other.
What I liked about these fact files was that they were short and to the point. The art is simple but childishly cute and it was nice that they covered the whole page. There are tips and also activities mentioned in some pages.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
This book is focused mostly on the weather and the how's especially about rain, snow and natural disasters because of the weather. My favorite part of the book is how scientists figure out what's going to be the weather in the coming days.
Like the Ocean fact file, it mentions global warming but very briefly compared to the Ocean fact file. The tips as well are just repetition of the summary of the chapter.
I've read each of these fact files before posting the reviews and since they're technically almost the same books, though just with different topics, my reviews may be similar to each other.
What I liked about these fact files was that they were short and to the point. The art is simple but childishly cute and it was nice that they covered the whole page. There are tips and also activities mentioned in some pages.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with the digital copy for an honest review.
etienne02's review
5.0
This book and collection are very well done. Short documentary for kids around 8-10 years old maybe. It's well explain, well organized, as good illustrations to help understand and even have some simple but really cool activities that kids can do at home. There is a couple of those on various subject, so I suggest you look them up and see if your children have an interest in some of their subject, if so, I would definitely recommend looking them up!
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