World-whizzing Facts: Awesome Earth Questions Answered

I cannot get enough of this book. It's so funny and informative and gross and fascnintating and asks and answers questions I never had and now wonder why. But how much DNA do you share with a banana, and how much does a cloud weigh and how can we use Elephant poo- these are extremely wonderful things to find out about and then to show off with to anyone who didn't want to know. It's a great book. super entertaining, a real labour of love. It's such a gift to the world. Buy it as a gift for anyone with a child and sort out bed time drag for the next weeks. Seriously edutaining.

My six and eight year olds (girl and boy) love this book, although reading age-wise I’d say it’s Year 3+. I’ve never heard them say "Oh my gosh" quite so many times in such a short space of time, as they keep finding fun snippets to read out. It’s written brilliantly for primary-school aged kids, and caters exactly to things they find interesting, while also explaining the science behind them in a really accessible and fun way. Children learn fun facts, but also some proper science and how to question things as the explanations work through the “whys". My eight year old says definitely five out of five, and I agree.

My grandson loved this book

Read this book together with my 10 year old after both of us loving the first book by same author. We both thoroughly enjoyed it, lots of fascinating facts about the world and a great way to introduce children to the challenging and complicated topic of climate change. While explaining the reasons behind climate change, and the need for urgent action, it remains positive with concrete examples of steps we can take to address it. Looking forward to reading it next with my younger son.

Emily Grossman's "World Whizzing Facts" advertises as for 7+. Well, that's true but its brilliance demands that we qualify the age range. Let's just say that I'm considerably more than 7 but I'm also a scientific dummy not prone to reading books about science especially when they promise to be for beginners. This book, however, was a new experience. I actually understood it, I enjoyed it and revelled in its language which is clear, sometimes colloquial but never patronising. So I'd say take the 7+ literally. Likewise, don't assume that parents would leave their 7 year old to read the book entirely alone. It would be a fruitful and bonding experience for them to read the book together.Dr. Grossman has a unique approach. She begins with the kind of questions a child might ask, by no means excluding the scatological: questions about pee and poo - that of dogs, elephants and humans, but leading to a series of observations about our need to modify our diets for ecological reasons, the characteristics of planets including ours, its prospects and what we need to do for it.Thus it has a kind of didactic function - by which I do not imply "ideological' in the most closely political sense. I mean didactic as in "intending to teach", to educate. And it is indeed a vital area of teaching, one which affects the entire world, the physical space we live in and beyond and how we could (and should) be responsible for it. To be sure, plenty of enlightened teachers are already onto this, but Grossman's book does it in her own way - depth with a light touch. That's quite an achievement. I would go as far as to say that those enlightened teachers could do well to use this as classroom reading. There's plenty of scope for group discussion, project work or class reading based on these "World Whizzing Facts".And on a personal note. This is the first science primer I've ever read that I simply couldn't put down. And given my limited understanding of the subject that IS an achievement.