The Birth of the Earth; Life Finds its Feet; The Day of the Dinosaurs; The Stick and Stone Age

Non-fiction presented in cartoon format tends to divide readers into two camps - you either love it or hate it. If you veer towards the latter, this lively and engaging series from A & C Black may well convert you. The journey from Big Bang to primeval soup is presented in a chatty informal style that tackles both straightforward description and tricky concepts with equal ease. Bailey and Lilly make a great partnership, text and pictures woven seamlessly together, spritzed with witty speech bubbles and asides that hit just the right mark for the readership. These are deceptively simple books with a huge amount of information presented in a fresh and imaginative way. Dino fans will enjoy the volume on 'monster meat-munchers and gigantic leaf-eaters' and find bang up-to-date information from a palaeontological viewpoint. The most enjoyable volume is undoubtedly the final one, The Stick and Stone Age, in which humans first appear and the jokes get better. Watch out for more titles in this impressive series.