The Usborne Internet-linked First Encyclopedia of Science

To complement their range of encyclopedias with website links for the upper end of the primary age group, Usborne have now produced a comparable series for younger readers. This introduction to science at Key Stage 1 level has all the right ingredients – practical activities, links to a range of useful websites appropriate for the age group, images that can be downloaded and printed out for homework projects, glossary and busily colourful pages. Apart from some strangely old-fashioned artwork and some garish background photographs that make it hard to read the overprinted text, there is at first nothing much to object to. And yet there is nothing to ignite a spark of passion for science in a curious child, and in places the text is so simplified as to be misleading. The publisher is keen to stress that the book stands alone for those without access to a computer, but I found myself itching to move away from the book to something more exciting on screen. Not quite what was intended I suspect and not half as entertaining as the old comic-strip style Usborne books.