Tag Jem Maybank

Foods of the World / Transport and Travel

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Foods of the World
Libby Walden and Jocelyn Kao
Transport and Travel
Sandra Lawrence and Jem Maybank
360 Degrees

Aimed primarily at KS2 (7-11) readers these are two of the Mini Hardback series, neatly packaged, alluringly illustrated with spreads playfully subtitled..
In the first book Libby Walden takes a broad view of what we eat, rummaging around in kitchens around the world and unearthing all manner of diverse and delicious dishes and tasty treats, from tagines

to turnips – albeit ones used as lanterns in Richterswil near Zurich in November,  shark meat (served in Iceland as Hákarl) to strudel, cannali to chewing gum and bubble gum – yes even those are included, despite having no nutritional value, on account of needing to be chewed.

In addition to the vast array of culinary delights, readers can find out about unusual utensils and absorb a range of fascinating food-related facts.
Cooking techniques too are covered, (my favourite of those here is the tandoor used in Indian cuisine).

So too are food terms, in particular those coming from the French language.
There’s also a look at the notion of ‘good manners’: not finishing everything on your plate is impolite in China, while Middle Eastern (and also in my experience, on the Indian sub-continent) people often eat with their fingers, but it has to be the correct (right) hand; to use the left hand would be a faux pas.
When you travel abroad are you a person who relishes the thought of sampling the cuisine of the country you’re visiting or do you seek out places to eat that serve as nearly as possible what you’re used to at home.
I’m one of the former although in some places it’s less easy to find suitable eating places since I’m a vegetarian who also tries to avoid anything dairy so I eagerly devoured this book. So too will young readers who enjoy a good nosh.

Fascinating factual Transport and Travel related snippets are presented in the second title, some historic, some present day and one or two. looking to the future.

Moving around on land, through water, in the air, under ground and undersea are all covered though the book is divided into four main parts: travel on wheels, on rails, through the air and water.

We’re given a look at the great lengths people all over the world have gone to in order to get from one place to another as effectively as is humanly possible. Inviting illustrations offer readers a passenger’s eye view of such diverse modes of transport as tuk-tuks,

a gondola, a life boat, a bi-plane and a bicycle. What’s your favourite means of travelling?

Humanatomy: How the Body Works

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Humanatomy: How the Body Works
Nicola Edwards, George Ermos and Jem Maybank
360 Degrees

Ever wanted to go beneath your skin and get right up close to your inner workings? If so, then this is definitely the book for you.

Tucked inside the front cover is a flip-over section comprising eight superb labelled illustrations, one for each of the body’s systems

excluding the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems.

The main part of the book contains an introductory page followed by a brief explanation of how the systems work together; and then detailed chapters on each of those systems, the first being the integumentary system.

Like the chapters that follow, it begins with a short overview of the functions and other fascinating facts; and then goes into detail using questions that immediately draw the reader in. Questions such as ‘Why do we have different shades of skin and why do some people have freckles?’ ‘Why do your hands go wrinkly in the bath?’ or, ‘How does skin heal itself? And what are scabs and scars all about?’

Next comes the muscular system, followed by the skeletal system that includes a labelled pictorial sequence of how a broken bone heals …

Thereafter we have the digestive system and then the respiratory system. I’ve no doubt children will delight in the ‘What is snot and why do we have it?’ paragraph and be fascinated to learn that the highest ‘sneeze speed’ on record is 165 km (103 miles) per hour.

The circulatory, nervous and urinary systems are equally fascinating. Did you know that blood makes up about 7% of our body weight? Or that lobsters have little urine nozzles under their eyes and communicate by squirting wee into each other’s faces – slightly off key but the sort of thing that children love to discover.

The final systems spread encompasses the endocrine, immune and reproductive systems.

And the last chapter (before the very accessible glossary) looks at DNA and what makes us who we are.

Altogether a fabulous publication. The writing is perfectly pitched for child readers, the production is excellent, as are the  illustrations by George Ermos and Jemima Maybank, it’s a book that deserves to be in every primary classroom collection and on every child’s bookshelf.