What better way to test a book than on holiday in a self catering cottage, in the middle of nowhere. On a working farm. In the rain. And rain. And mud. If a book can capture the attention of a 5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old with prolonged cabin fever then it is a winner in my view. This book did just that for about 15 minutes...
The Amazing Jobs book in the Lonely Planet World Search series selects a random choice of jobs and makes them very exciting by where the jobs are based: Vets in the jungle of Central Africa, roller-blading French police officers in Paris, Flying Doctors in Australia, Sherpas on Mount Everest, Bollywood movies and finally, Rangers in Yellowstone Park, USA. The locations of these jobs are a fantastic twist on your standard 'different type of jobs' books, but I can't help but feel that these will be uber confusing for the kids when we see a policeman in the UK and he's not gliding on roller-blades or the doctor on call doesn't require a helipad. But hey. This is a family review, not just me.
The books are good quality with clear text on the inside of each flap. The kids loved discovering the flaps (there's around 5 per page) and lifting them to reveal the fact. The illustrations are good (flag of each country is on the page - educational box ticked!) but not mind blowing. There's also a 'can you find' picture - which the kids loved finding as well as free stickers (always a bonus). This book kept the children occupied for about 15 minutes (just below average). It wasn't enough to keep them going for any longer. Rosie (aged 5) was more interested in this book than Sam (age 3) so would recommend this for early school age. They enjoyed the bright colours but weren't as completely engrossed in it as I had hoped.
A good book, not brilliant, but did the job :)
4 out of 5
Lonely Planet World Search: BUSY PLACES
Busy Places, looks at various places around the world including the usual: Paris, New York and Sydney but also chucks in some different ones for good measure: Marrakech and Shanghai for example. Not necessarily ones you would find in a children's book about places so this makes a refreshing change.
Like the other books in the Lonely Planet series, there are plenty of flaps on each page which the kids love looking for and opening up. The illustrations in the book are very good with many landmarks included as well as the national flag. The pages are bright and busy and each different location provides a nice contrast. There's also tick boxes at the end of the book to go back and find the pictures as well as 'can you find' on each page, giving this book an extra few minutes of reading with the children.
Rosie, aged 5 was very inquisitive about the places and asked loads of questions about each location. I think this would be a great book if going on a family holiday abroad to one of the destinations. A really fun way of exploring different places around the world, definitely recommended.
5 out of 5
Lonely Planet World Search : INCREDIBLE ANIMALS
Incredible Animals, looks at different habitats around the world and the animals which inhabit them. Whilst the locations are not your run of the mill locations, such as the rocky mountains of the Andes and the Australian Outback they do add a uniqueness to this book.
Like the other books in this series, the pages are busy with colourful pictures and lots of flaps for the children to lift and read. However, for a book concentrating on animals I would have liked the illustrations to be better. I'm not professing to be Quentin Blake but I'm sure I could draw something better and the animals could be a lot more detailed. A bit disappointing if I'm honest.
That aside, the location choices are great, the 'find the' section, stickers and checklist all provide for an interesting and engaging book. Better for early school years. Rosie (age 5) enjoyed this book and the others in the series and found the investigating flaps and learning about animals etc interesting. This book grabbed her attention for 10 minutes. I would have hoped she would have been more interested and I think the illustrations may have had something to do with that.
And a huge thank you to our talented young reviewers who sent in their brilliant drawings inspired by the Lonely Planet series, Bryn (aged six), Rosie (aged 5) and Dominic (almost 4)
First Dominic (aged almost four) for sharing with us why he loves cats!
Thanks to Bryn (aged six) who was so inspired by Amazing Jobs that he drew his best job, which is An Inventor. Why? "it's the best job because it stretches my imagination. I would get up in the morning put on a white lab coat and then go downstairs do a brain twister (conundrum) to get my brain working. Then ready to make my inventions like the freezer producer, 'helpful bot' and 'science bot'. Inventing is the best job because it gives your mind exercises".
Lastly Rosie (aged five) for this drawing of her best place in the whole wide world - the swimming pool, because "I like the feeling of swimming under water and splashing about with my family".
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