A World in a Drop of Water: Exploring with a Microscope

I got this for my grand-daughter, who is 9 years old. She had no interest in it, but I won't let her disinterest diminish my rating. I thought and still think it is great for someone between 9 and 14, and beneficial to a lesser degree to someone in high school; a more advanced edition can be written for such people. Of course individuals vary, so some like my grand-daughter need to wait until maybe 14 to find herself more interested, as she matures. But some even 7 years old may be interested. Perhaps boys are more naturally interested at a younger age, on average. My advice is to talk to a young one first, to determine the degree of his/her interest, before buying any book on the subject.

I bought this book for my 10 year old granddaughter. She asked for a microscope and I bought her one. since we have been to the pond together to get water for my microscope, I wanted to get her a book about pond water. This is not a how-to book as the first reviewer states, so I also bought a how-to book to go along with this book.

A WORLD IN A DROP OF WATER was an excellent book with great information to help my daughter with her science project. The book arrived in less than 4 days from the day it was ordered.

This is an excellent book describing the various life forms in a drop of pond water. It may well serve to make your child interested in using microscopes. In addition, there are a couple of pages about Anthony van Leeuwenhoek, who first made and described a microscope and what he could see with it. But if your child is the owner of a new microscope, I recommend the Usborne book "The World of the Microscope" which will give you ideas for making your own slides and give tips for using the microscope. For early-mid elementary aged kids, I also recommend "Greg's Microscope", which is a level 3 early reader that follows a young boy who yearns for a microscope, finally gets one, and learns to use it. THAT was the book that got my daughter to decide she wanted a microscope for Christmas!

I spent about half of my childhood staring down the end of a microscope. This book is by far the best introduction to microsopy for children. The instructions are clear and easy to follow and the projects are such that almost anyone with a mud puddle or pond nearby can do them. It's hard to compete with video games but if your child has any interest in sciecne then this book, along with the tools that come with any microscope set, will open up an entire world of fun and learning.