Dig and Sow!; Splish! Splosh!
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Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration by Fangorn is taken from Brian Jacques’ Lord Brocktree (Hutchinson, 0 09 176877 2, £12.99), the thirteenth title in the internationally best-selling Redwall series. Salamandastron, the ancestral home of the Badger Lords, is under threat from Ungatt Trunn, an enemy whose power would seem to be absolute and whose evil knows no bounds. The only hope for survival is the badger Lord Brocktree who is drawn to the fortress by an undeniable sense of destiny. Brian Jacques' masterful storytelling as always spins a web of high adventure that will enthral the reader from the first page to the last. Thanks to Hutchinson Children’s Books for their help in producing this September cover.
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Dig and Sow!
Illustrated by Peter Utton and Ann Savage
Splish! Splosh!
Illustrated by Peter Utton
Science being the investigation of nature, the garden (supposing you have access to one) is as good a place as any to start. In Dig and Sow! we look at soil and what it is, how green plants grow, what worms do all day, garden fauna, pollination and seeds in a friendly domestic way. Many easy to find examples are involved and the simple experiments are nicely fail-safe. This is a pleasant introduction and observation-promoter, but to state that 'gardeners use fertilisers, such as manure, to feed plants' without explaining the nature and origins of manure is to miss a richly nitrogenous opportunity.
Today the garden - tomorrow the bathroom - another good test bed for embryo boffins. Mostly this is all about properties of fluids, but it deviates helpfully to include 'why must I brush my teeth' (including a 'dissolve your own tooth in coca-cola' experiment) and the principles of the symphonic toilet - sorry that should be syphonic. But to say 'remember to wash your hands after going to the toilet' without explaining why is to miss a richly bacterial opportunity.
Probably most successful in the well-appointed - family home, this coprophobic couple is not essential to a cash-strapped library.
