Tell Me About…Plants

Review also includes:

Tell Me About…Human Body, 978-1787418097

These two books from the Tell Me About… series are in a small hardback format which is just perfect for this age group. Tell Me About…Plants is also produced in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which is an excellent idea to encourage young scientists and those keen on the natural world. I think this connection will help to promote this title in the series, as well as the whole series itself.

Both volumes are packed full with information for young readers on these subjects and the Glossary at the back of both books is extremely helpful. Tell Me About…Plants covers many different aspects of the subject: seeds, flowers, fruit, leaves, plant attack, organising plants, types of tree. There are some amazing facts to satisfy curious minds, such as the way in which pollen grains are actually different shapes depending on the plant!

With a similar layout to the title on plants, Tell Me About…Human Body is divided into 18 sections of two pages each. After some facts about the body generally, we are taken through various parts and clear explanations follow in easily manageable chunks. I liked the description of ears being connected to a, ‘Library of sound memories’ in your brain so that we can understand language.

The illustrations in both books are colourful, clear and fun. Diagrams work well with the text and simplify difficult concepts: the heart in the Pumping Blood section and the map of the Brilliant Brain. I found some beautiful illustrations which are a credit to the artist, especially the two pages (pp.30-31) showing Trees & The Seasons in Tell Me About…Plants.

Overall, these are very successful books which experienced writer Emily Dodd has created. It cannot have been an easy task to communicate information about these complicated topics to five-year-olds. I am sure both hardbacks will be fabulous gifts or reading material in homes and schools to inform and excite budding scientists!