Book Review: The Usborne Science Encyclopedia by Annabel Craig and Cliff Rosney

TITLE: The Usborne Science Encyclopedia

AUTHOR: Annabel Craig and Cliff Rosney

PUBLISHER: Usborne Books
PUBLICATION DATE: September 1, 1997

FORMAT: Softcover, 128 pages
GENRE: Non-fiction, Science
ISBN: 9780746030523

What makes a rocket go? Why is the sky blue? What is gravity? How do computers work?

The Usborne Science Encyclopedia introduces children to the fascinating world of science. Arranged thematically, it provides clear explanations which uncover the basic scientific principles behind everyday life. Hundreds of illustrations, both realistic and cartoons, together with quizzes, experiments and amazing facts, help to make science fun. Lists, charts, a glossary and an index complete this invaluable children's reference book.

MY REVIEW: 

I read this non-fiction book aloud to my children. 

This book covers a lot of ground, including: Energy, physics, light, sound, atoms, and electricity. Due to the nature of the topics, there is a lot of information presented on each page. I personally would have preferred a little less information so that the pages did not look so "busy."

The book was published in 1997, so I had to laugh at the section on "Records and Tapes." My kids pointed to the record player and cassette tapes and asked what they were! The book could really stand some updating in the technology section.

One thing that my kids loved were the science experiments, which were simple to do and a lot of fun! I love that the book incorporated some "hands-on" things to bring further understanding to the topics.

The book covers more mature topics that the other Usborne books that we have been reading, so the depth of information is a bit more complex. We still really enjoyed it, although it wasn't our favourite Usborne science book.

MY RATING:

4 stars!!  We really enjoyed it, and we would recommend it!

This book qualifies as: 

#102 for my 2012 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge    
#37 for my 2012 The Dusty Bookshelf Challenge  
#16 for my 2012 Dewey Decimal Challenge 
#38 for my 2012 TBR Pile Reading Challenge    
#72 for my New Author Reading Challenge 2012 
#38 for my Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2012  
#10 for my Five-Year Reading Challenge: A Non-Fiction Adventure  

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