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When We Became Humans by Michael Bright

A story of evolution, how we as humans developed into the upright, intelligent form that we are today, from our recent cousins the Neanderthals to ourselves, Homo Sapiens. A large format highly illustrated book which follows in the success of When the Whales Walked.

One stop guide to discovering your origins
Exquisite illustration which brings the subject to life
Engagingly explores this key topic for Key Stage 2 pupils

The sections of the book are easy to follow from ‘How do we know who our ancestors were? to ‘Just Like Us’, which explores how the Neanderthals also liked to use jewellery and clothes.

At the back of the book there is a section on the human family tree and a world map showing how humans have always travelled on and and sea.

Michael Bright is an executive producer with the BBC Natural History Unit and has written over 60 books on aspects of natural history and conservation and the environment.

Hannah Bailey is an illustrator and designer inspired by the natural world and specialises in natural history and non-fiction for children.

Words and Pictures are part of the Quarto Group and aim to produce books that inspire and enable children to think and use their imaginations.

Recommended for ages 6-10, a great book to have for schools and at home.

Sue Martin

Bookmonitor is our news source for reviews and project information.

Books go Walkabout is our international books and literacy project - connecting authors and illustrators with children and young people around the globe.

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The Dictionary of Difficult Words

What is a funambulist? Or a bumbleshoot?

The Dictionary of Difficult Words has over 400 words which will amaze, intrigue and inspire budding writers and linguaphiles.

All of the words in this book are difficult to spell, hard to say and their meaning is obscure to most children and to adults.

Turning each page is a a delight and you can find many words that sound fantastic and will be just right to confuse the teacher! Many of them confuse MsWord spellcheck too!!

A non-patronising reference book aimed at young wordsmiths, who are looking to fill their writing with new and inspirational words. Ideal for fans of The Lost Words and P is for Pteradactyl.

Each word has a pronunciation guide and a delightful illustration entwined with the text. As a family dictionary it will be brilliant for trivia games, scrabble and others, an absolute guide to the question, “Are you sure that is a real word?”

A Dictionary of Difficult Words is written by Jane Solomon, who is a lexicographer, based in California, working with Dictionary.com and a member of the Unicode Emoji subcommittee!

Louise Lockhart is the illustrator, living in England, and working on fascinating projects for Liberty London and The Independent plus others.

Recommend for ages 9-13, but for everyone who loves words.

Sue Martin

How To Think Like an Absolute Genius

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Be curious, be imaginative, be determined!

How To Think Like an Absolute Genius is an extraordinary book about developing critical thinking skills. How to develop your talent by drawing inspiration from 26 of the world’s greatest of geniuses.

In a world that changes quickly, the future belongs to those who have an open, flexible mind; like John Lennon, they will imagine the impossible; like Walt Disney, they will work as a team; and like Copernicus, they will be able to think backwards!

The book is packed with ideas, facts, games and activities that will stretch, twist and develop your mind.

The author is Philippe Brasseur, who is a cultivator of ideas and has written several books on creativity and mental flexibility. He opened the ‘Creativita’ Centre in Brussels where he lives.

Published by QED, publishers who are also able to think outside the box and continue to bring new inventive ideas into books for children.

A great book to read for all ages, and I’m going to start reading it right now!

Buy this great book here!

Sue Martin

What on Earth? Robots by Jenny Fretland VanVoorst, illustrated by Paulina Morgan

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Explore, create and investigate! That’s the mantra behind this incredible series of books from QED Publishing.

What on Earth Robots is the latest book, published in July 2018 in paperback.

The book details complicated information in a totally accessible way. The style of presentation, enables all children to gain an understanding of some complicated robots that are present in our world today.

Did you know for instance that there are micro robots? They can be swallowed like a pill going through your body to repair, take pictures and deliver medicine. How cool is that? Or follow a game Escape the Maze, using commands move the robot to follow the rules.

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There is a great mix of creative activities and fun trivia with science and technology, a comprehensive exploration of robots in day-to-day life with thoughtful ideas of possible future applications.

Books Go Walkabout works with authors and illustrators across the world and this book is a great example of dynamic people coming together from across the globe.

Jenny Fretland VanVoorst is a specialist writer in science and technology, making complicated subjects interesting and appealing. She has a particular interest in robotic topics and has already written six books on the topic. Jenny lives in Michigan, USA.

Paulina Morgan is the illustrator of the series. She is based in Santiago in Chile also working in Barcelona, Spain.

This is a great book to have, to read and share, we recommend for all ages and especially for 7 – 9 years.

Sue Martin

Books from across the world – always available at BookMonitor

Stuff You Should Know! by John Farndon and Rob Beattie

Stuff You Should Know cover image and web link — Buy this great book here…

The first things you will notice about ‘The Stuff You Should Know’ are the really good illustrations and the interesting use of text, there are questions that you never ask but the answers are fascinating.

What happens when you tweet on Twitter?

What happens when you recycle your drinks can?

What happens when you charge your iPad?

This book is packed with so many answers and you will become full of knowledge! There is a page, for example, on Sending Mail, with the issues around transport and deliveries to rural areas, using postcodes and barcodes to get the letter to the right place.

Stuff you shuold know! Buy this Book - image and web link — …with free delivery!

The double page open spread on Using a Mobile Phone is amazing!

Fact – by 2015 around 2.7 billion people worldwide owned a smart phone and it is now one of the most important gadgets on the planet.

The book describes the operating system, the battery, USB connector, the Sim card, touchscreen technology, emails, apps, music, location services, games and much more. For instance, when you touch the screen it interrupts a current of electricity informing the phone where your fingers are, it’s called capacitive touchscreen!

John Farndon is an internationally known author, as well as a playwright, composer and songwriter. He has written hundreds of books, which have sold millions of copies around the world in most major languages and include many best-sellers, such as the award-winning Do Not Open.

Rob Beattie is a professional writer and life-long camper and angler. He has written numerous titles on a wide range of outdoor activities, including: The Pocket Survival Guide, The Campsite Companion: All You Need to Know for Life in the Great Outdoors, The Boating Companion: All You Need to Know for Life on the Open Water, and The Fishing Handbook(published in the UK as 101 Golden Rules of Fishing). All have been published internationally and translated into several languages. He lives in the seaside city of Brighton, England.

STEVE FRICKER is a renowned illustrator and painter. Awarded the Rhone-Poulenc prize for his illustrations for What Happens When? His work has appeared in many of the worlds leading newspapers and magazines as well as private and National collections. Steve studied painting at Chelsea School of Art .He worked for 25 years as a political cartoonist and illustrated comment pages by Tony Blair, John Major and Boris Johnson and many others.

This book, published by Marshall Editions, part of Quarto Knows, is a great way to find out information and then maybe find out more on the internet too. It will be great for the summer holidays and I think parents will have as much fun with this as any child.

And now to find out about jet engines!!

Sue Martin