World War II (Explore!) by Jane Bingham #bookreview

Book review: World War II is such an important part of our history and as such is a mainstay of our schools' history education. This book, aimed at children, provides an introduction to the topic.

What we have are 32 full-colour pages of bite-size chunks of text giving the important information around World War II like why it started, who was involved, the major events and so on. There are plenty of pictures along the way too, like paintings done during the War, posters, photographs and more. The subject matter could upset some, e.g. the Holocaust and people dying, but children tend to be rather resilient and the text is in a  matter-of-fact manner so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

There are a couple of suggested exercises along the way too. These are an exercise to write a letter from the point-of-view of a child experiencing the war using info from the book and other sources and to create a “cipher wheel” for creating secret coded messages. (I was tempted to write this review using a code generated by this wheel but decided against it at the last minute.)

At the end, there are also some books and websites listed as suggested further reading, although nearly all the books are by the same publisher. 

All-in-all then this is a book that introduces the topic of World War II which should be easy for children to read as the text is in bite-size chunks and there are plenty of pics to bring it to life. Further research can then be carried out afterwards if required.

Amazon UK link: World War II (Explore)

Penguins (Animal Families) by Tim Harris #bookreview

Book Review: People love penguins because they are so cute. That's why we have the Penguins of Madagascar, Happy Feet and Pingu. Indeed the first sentence of this book alludes to this - "Penguins are among the most familiar and best loved of any wild birds."

This book contains lots of pictures of cute penguins with some written information about them and is aimed at 6 to 11-year-olds. The language is suitable for this age group being simple, with uncommon terms, e.g. predators, krill, incubate, being explained along the way (although when it gets to the breeding part the words breed and mate are not similarly defined luckily).

There is also a flow to the book. For example, a chapter entitled egg-laying and incubation is followed up by another called bringing up chicks, then another called growing bigger... This follows the life of a young penguin.

On things that could improve this book, it is short at 32 pages so could have been longer (although for the targeted age group you could say it is better to be shorter). Also, pictures of all 17 types of penguin could have been included, and would have been of interest I feel to youngsters (and to me).

But I still found the book interesting, and it would suit readers who prefer to read in bite-size chunks, like young readers. Plus it can be used to introduce penguins as a topic which can then be researched via Wikipedia later.

THIS BOOK IS ON AMAZON UK HERE

Electrigirl and the Deadly Swarm by Jo Cotterill and Cathy Brett #bookreview

Book review: I got this for my nearly 10-year-old daughter. She read the first book in the series about a year ago and absolutely loved it so getting this was a no-brainer.

This book brings back some of the same characters from the previous, including of course the evil Professor Macavity, and includes some new characters too, with useful introductory profiles at the beginning of the book. 

This time Holly, the main character aka Electrigirl, goes on vacation only to discover that Professor Macavity has hatched a new scheme hiding a deadly swarm of robotic insects that sting you and give you a love for danger. Holly sets out to destroy them all, but there are too many. Will she succeed?

My daughter liked the story, the pictures - which included comic style parts for some of the dramatic parts of the story just like in the first book, and that the hero is a girl. Indeed most of the characters are female - this book has some true girl power!

AMAZON UK LINK: ELECTRIGIRL AND THE DEADLY SWARM

The Manmade World: How our world works in maps and infographics (Mapographica) by Jon Richards and Ed Simkins

Book review: I was preparing myself to be underwhelmed by this book. However, I was pleasantly surprised and found it interesting. It contains maps of the world showing "infographics" for:

* People and Energy

* A Moving World

* Trade

* Palm Oil

* Oil

* Water Access

* Growing Food

* Global Emissions and Population

* Tallest Buildings

* On the Line

* Internet Access

* Money

* Space Launches

It was interesting. For example, there was a map of the world at night, with lights marking urban areas, dark areas being more rural locations or poorer places. It was particularly interesting to see lights follow the river Nile in Egypt. Plus there is at least one country in the world that has opium as its highest value export. 

However, there are things I feel could improve the book too. It is short at 32 pages long, so could be longer. I wasn't sure on why all the categories included in this book were chosen. For instance, Palm Oil. Maybe I'm being ignorant here, as there is a message in the book that talks about the deforestation caused to make way for new palm oil plantations, but surely there could be better topics with available statistics to cover. Also, it would have been good if all the statistics were sourced so the data could be sought out. This is because the stats will quickly get out of date (there are fast-moving topics here like smartphone usage) and also it would allow other countries to be compared in the data because typically just the top and bottom 10 are given for the subject. This approach doesn't always allow comparisons to be made for the UK but is good for countries like USA and China that often feature in the top 2 of a topic. And an interactive version of this book would be better, so you could hover over your country of interest to find out the equivalent information, maybe with the ability to link to the data source so you can be sure you are using the latest info.

But I still found the book interesting, and it would suit readers who prefer to read in bite-size chunks, like reluctant, young readers. Plus it can be used to introduce topics that can then be researched via Wikipedia and the like.

Amazon UK link: The Manmade World: How our world works in maps and infographics (Mapographica)

Farewell to Upton Park: The Official Celebration of West Ham's Home 1904-2016 by Andy Hooper & Lee Clayton #bookreview

Book review: When I got "Farewell to Upton Park: The Official Celebration of West Ham's Home 1904-2016" I thought it'd be a collection of iconic moments that have taken place in the stadium. The sort that Karren Brady mentions in her foreword as she talks of Hurst, Peters and Moore's first match back at the stadium after they helped England win the World Cup, how they came onto the pitch before the rest of the team to be serenaded by the fans, and the scissor-kick goal Paolo Di Canio scored versus Wimbledon. Or maybe the sort that Trevor Brooking mentioned in his opening piece entitled "The West Ham Family" when he talked about winning promotion in 1981 with players such as Alvin martin, Billy Bonds and Frank Lampard Snr.

But this book isn't that at all. Instead, it is the third introduction by Lee Clayton which best describes this book. "Over many days in that final, dramatic season... award-winning photographer Andy Hooper captured images of players, legends and supporters, iconic images of a stadium that had been 'home' since 1904." 

These photographs are spread over six chapters: The Fans, Boleyn through the ages, Our Home, Match Day, The Legends of Upton Park, and The Final Game. Of these, my favourite chapter is the shortest, the 11-page "Boleyn through the ages", where there are a handful of historic photos with interesting accompanying captions.

The rest of the book is probably best for people wanting to recapture the atmosphere of going to a match at Upton Park in 2016, or who wanted to relive the fireworks and hullabaloo of the last ever match played there.

True, the photography is of a good quality, and all very arty (see the reflection of Upton Park captured in a bubble on the cover as a case in point) but I would have liked more history to in here, especially given Upton Park was West Ham's home for 112 years.

Amazon Link: Farewell to Upton Park: The Official Celebration of West Ham's Home 1904-2016

The Secret Railway and the Crystal Caves by Wendy Meddour #bookreview

Book review: I got this for my nearly 10-year-old daughter to read. She says:

The story follows Ella and Leo as they attempt to return the incredible Crystallator (which is needed to open up the crystal caves again so they so they can be mined for fairy dust) to the High Chief of the Hob Goblins, Gripendulum, the leader of the Kingdom of Izzambard. 

When I was reading it I liked how the only way to get into Izzambard was if the time was 11.61. I didn't like Griselda, the evil character. I laughed when Leo tried to wake up the sleeping key and failed, and I was sad when Griselda's mechanical moles came to stop Ella and Leo. Also, it was a little hard to follow at first because I had not read the first book in the series.

I think this book is good for children the same age as me (nearly-10).

Amazon link: The Secret Railway and the Crystal Caves

From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming #bookreview

Book review: "From Russia with Love" famously was one of President JFK’s top 10 favourite reads. It also inspired the second Bond movie which, being early in the series, is pretty similar to the book.

The book starts from the Russian side. Indeed it isn’t until chapter 11 of 28 that James Bond makes an appearance in the flesh.

The early chapters introduce “Donovan Grant or ‘Red’ Grant – Chief Executioner of SMERSH”, Rosa Klebb and Tatiana Romanova as they form a plot to kill Bond, although Tatiana, or Tania, is more a pawn in the plot than an instigator.

The plot is formed, to kill Bond, the spy who “has at least twice frustrated the operations of SMERSH” (see previous Bond novels for those occasions). He is to be “killed with IGNOMINY” with “great scandal required”, thus making it clear to the spying world that, after making some “stupid blunders, [which] has made the Soviet Union look foolish and weak throughout the world”, SMERSH is back.

Luckily for James Bond fans he manages to survive the plot, or does he? – the book ending in a cliffhanger.

Along the way, Bond displays his analytical thinking and eye for detail, useful traits for a spy, and the book is a thrilling read, with plenty of suspense, especially whilst he takes the Orient Express train home.

James Bond will return in Dr. No.

Available from Amazon HERE.