Extreme Planet Is Packed With Fun Facts for Young Minds
This afternoon as I buckled my 5 year old daughter into her carseat to pick up her little brother, she exclaimed with delight how lucky she was that she had left an unfinished book in her seat. I shared with her a traveler’s rule, one that I had used while traveling around and living in Asia for 3 years: Always Bring A Book (ABAB)!
Lorelei liked that rule—she’s a rule and book lover like me—and immediately shared the rule with Ben when he joined us in the car.
ABAB. Maybe I should say: Always Bring A Book…like this one. Lonely Planet—the leader in travel guides for national and international backpackers like me—has created a big book full of bright pictures and short explanations that is perfect for traveling. If you’ve got a long drive or flight ahead of you this holiday season, I highly suggest keeping this book within reach of any child, from age 6 to 15. There is something for everyone in here!
This book takes the reader on a tour around the world in search of the craziest things. They searched for the hottest, wettest, deepest, coldest, highest, driest, smelliest, weirdest (okay, you get the idea) things in order to provide the reader with captivating snapshots, followed up with a short synopsis to explain it. These are not in-depth facts; a child interested in jaguars, for example, will be disappointed that there are only three sentences on the sneaky species. Snakes get a two-page spread, but only about five paragraphs in all to describe eight different types of snakes.
But this is what makes it such a fantastic book with which to travel. We all know what a tired and cranky kid looks like, one that really can’t concentrate on much besides yet another movie or show. But if you pull this book out, I’m confident that she or he will be able to spend at least 20 minutes—easily more—looking at great pictures and learning really, really interesting facts about a wide variety of subjects.
Lorelei has already pulled out some facts to impress me, to make me wonder where she picked up the fact that some people keep guinea pigs as pets (that’s here in the U.S.) and others like them with potatos (Peru and Bolivia). I won’t be shopping at the pet store anytime soon, but…it’s a fact (and the accompanying picture which is just the right amount of gross for any kid) I won’t soon be forgetting.
Not-For-Parents Extreme Planet: Exploring the Most Extreme Stuff on Earth!
By Lonely Planet
Random House: www.shoplonelyplanet.com
Price: Available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books a Million! for approximately $16
| Easy to Read | 5 |
| Quality of Illustrations |
5 |
| Appealed to Both Boys and Girls | 5 |
| I Would Purchase This For My Family |
yes |
| I would Purchase This As A Gift |
yes |
| I Found Information in The Book Helpful | 5 |
| Overall Rating |
5 |
All ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being highest.
Meet the Reviewer!
Kate Schwarz is a full-time mom
and wife living in Great Falls, VA.
In addition to reading to her three
small hildren, Kate runs marathons,
Crossfits, and blogs about raising
kids with books at
www.katesbookery.blogspot.com.
