First Big Book of How
Sally Symes & Saranne Taylor, illustrated by Kate Slater
What on Earth Books

After ‘Why’ questions I think those beginning ‘How’ are probably the most often asked by young children. Author Sally Sykes, together with Saranne Taylor have divided the wealth of How questions in this bumper book into six sections, the first being The Body. The fifteen questions posed are engagingly and succinctly answered the first being ‘How does hair grow?’ A double page spread is allocated to each question, much of the space being taken by a striking illustration or photograph into which has been placed a ‘wacky fact’ and a relevant small labelled, close-up diagram. This section also addresses how each of the senses works – did you know that children smell better than adults, with ten year olds having the best sense of smell?

Then come respiration, circulation and the heart, bone growth, digestion, the growth of an unborn baby, the relationship between exercise and good health, catching a cold and more.

The other sections are in turn Machines & Buildings, Wild Animals, Bugs & Creepy Crawlies, Earth and finally, Space. In addition each part has a ‘Wow! What’s that? spread that zooms right in with a photograph as well as two ‘Tell me how … Now!’ spread, the latter briefly answering additional questions.

One to add to family bookshelves and Foundation Stage/ KS1 class collections.