Earth and Space

As soon as the book was unwrapped and opened for inspection, my 5 year old wanted to dive right in. A mother can't help but love a book like that. Usborne's many pictures and small paragraphs of information are ideal for children. The content is astonishingly good, and the presentation is even better. I absolutely love the experiments throughout the book. They are easy to do and only require items I normally have around my house. My only regret is that I didn't have this book to read when I was younger. After this book, I believe Usborne could make a book on the anything seem interesting.

This has turned into a useful book. I homeschool our five children using a classical approach. Following the recommendation of The Well Trained Mind, I purchased this book. Initially, I was not as thrilled with this as with some of my other school purchases. References to macroevolution, the Big Bang, etc,,, as if those theories are fact don't seem suitable to a science book when you are training children in the beginnings of the scientific method. Unfortunately, this is a common approach. For those concerned about Biblical creation, the evolutionary detail is limited and can be easily skipped or discussed in light of the Bible.On a practical level, this book is great. On numerous pages it offers little ideas to follow or use as mini-experiments or further research. It is easy enough for my youngest scholar to follow, and my oldest, a third grader, on busy days can read to the others. We school for six weeks and take a break the seventh. The format of the book fits this perfectly. Each of the six sections can be read in a four-page spread weekly in six weeks, totalling the 36 weeks needed for school. This schedule allows one or two days a week for reading and a second day a week for experiments, field trips, or alternative reading/studying. (I usually read Tues. and Thurs. and do field trips and experiments on Saturday with Dad).Overall rating of this book is positive.