'The best books, reviewed with insight and charm, but without compromise.'
- author Jackie French

Saturday, 25 July 2020

Review: Lift-the-Flap Atlas

Lonely Planet Kids does great stuff for younger readers and this Lift-the-Flap Atlas is one such example.

It's colourful, a good size (about A4), and robust (thick board book style pages), with interactive elements. There are more than 100 flaps!

It takes the continents as its focus, with a new one on each double-page spread.

They come full of tiny pictures and labels highlighting features that are well known or unique to the continent or places on it.

For example, you can visit South America and trace the Amazon River, discover the piranhas that live there, and meet the capybaras (giant rodents).

In Europe you can hunt for the place you might eat gelato, the home of the world's biggest snow fort, and a particularly colourful building (St Basil's Cathedral).

 The atlas starts with a whole world view, so you can see where each of the continents fit, and familiarise yourself with the simple map key showing mountains, forests, deserts, rivers and lakes, and seas and oceans. There's also a compass.

Then travel through each of the continents and lift the flaps to uncover facts about many different aspects of the countries around our world.

Did you know that Africa is home to four record-breaking animals? The tallest (giraffes), fastest (cheetah), heaviest (the African elephant), and the animal with the strongest bite (the Nile crocodile).

Once you reach the end of the atlas, you can start all over again with a 'Where am I?' quiz and see if you can remember where in the world some things are found.

A great book for young and curious explorers, and as a quick reference tool for home libraries.

Title: Lift-the-Flap Atlas
Author: Kate Baker
Illustrator: Liz Kay
Publisher: Lonely Planet Kids, $24.99
Publication Date: June 2020
Format: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781788689267
For ages: 6+
Type: Junior Non-Fiction