'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Friday 2 March 2018

Review: Explanatorium of Nature

This is a visually stunning nature book with exquisite photography and images, amazing facts and a wealth of information about nature and our world.

Open the cover to explore the diversity of life forms on earth, from plants to fish and microorganisms to mammals.

The books focuses on how nature works. So instead of just descriptions of creatures and organisms, it explains how and why they do things and how that contributes to their broader environment.

There is a range of levels of information included. Younger readers can focus on facts and images about creatures they know and discover some new and interesting ones along the way. Older readers can delve into the more scientific sections such as how cells, DNA and symbiosis work.

The book is broken into chapters focussed on the main types of life forms (eg plants, invertebrates, amphibians, birds, mammals etc). There is also a section on the basics of how life works, as well as a section on habitats, which explains how living things are impacted by the environments in which they live. You can learn why fungi plays a vital role in tropical rainforests, how animals and plants have adapted to survive in deserts and how animals in polar regions depend on the sea.

The book is well laid out, with clearly explained, short snippets of information on visually appealing pages with intriguing close up images of various life forms.

As with many of DK’s wonderful fact books, it really is the imagery that stands out to make this book special. The detailed, high resolution images of skin, wings, antennae and microscopic organisms draw you in to make you want to learn more.

A fantastic reference book for primary and secondary students.

Title: Explanatorium of Nature
Publisher: DK, $45.00
Publication Date: 30 October 2017
Format: Hard Cover
ISBN:9780241286845
For ages: 8+
Type: Non-Fiction