books: creative fun for kids and grownups
Could You? Would You?
This is a book full of questions - wonderful fantastic questions to get kids (and grownups) thinking about all the possibilities and choices and options that we encounter in life everyday. I sat with my daughter for a few hours while we discussed many of the questions in the book - seemingly meaningless questions that you might never think to ask because they seem too obvious, these are in fact exactly the sort of things that kids love to discuss - eg. what is your favourite place in the house to sit? How do you know when its summer? We all had a big laugh over “would you eat a meal that a cat had cooked?” this started a whole new discussion and really got our imaginations going overtime. Many of these questions would be great writing and drawing prompts but we are using them as story and conversation prompts. Some more serious questions are also in there like “could you help someone who was having a baby?” - well that is an interesting question and we started the ever popular discussion about where babies come from and where they emerge from?
This book does not have to be read from cover to cover, it is great to flick through and just happen upon something that catches your eye - also full of lovely simple illustrations. I really think this is a beautiful book - and not just for kids - although the recommended reading age is 9-12 years - my 5 and 7 year olds are loving this book as am I.
The Monster Hunter’s Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to Saving Mankind from Vampires, Zombies, Hellhounds, and Other Mythical Beasts
I found this book to be quite a strange contradiction. In looks it has a gothic styled cover and font but the illustrations are more comic book/poster design than goth realism - which was quite a disappointment. There are two sections, Cryptozoology (the study of mythical creatures) and Cryptohoplology (the study of mythical weapons). The book is basically a listing of the monsters (a page or two each) with a description, killing method, weaknesses and strengths - this does get a bit repetitive. The second section on weapons is more detailed with more historical information included. It is a bit interesting but probably more for creature and fantasy enthusiasts … I would suggest The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead
Wholly Irresponsible Experiments by Sean Connolly published by Icon Books August 2007.
As a very irresponsible child my husband was the perfect person to review this book, with all the crazy experiments he got up to in his childhood involving gun powder and chemical explosions etc - I thought he would really dig this book. The title sure sounds interesting but in fact the experiments in the book are really quite responsible - and not in fact at all irresponsible. My husband was disappointed that there were no acid experiments or pipe bombs or homemade rockets (there is a potato gun which has redeemed the title a bit). But on the plus side there are lots of good science experiments (mostly pretty safe - no danger involved) such as the osmosis carrot experiment and the egg in the bottle experiment. At the end of each experiment there is a risk assessment section - which basically says there is no risk - there is never really a risk - on the plus side each experiment is explained - what the scientific principals are behind the experiment - which really is very good. The most dangerous experiment is probably the teabag balloon (where a teabag is unfolded and set alight and it then floats up in the air). The final verdict is that the book is good - the experiments are sound and interesting but not irresponsible at all.
