Weather in 30 Seconds by Dr Jen Green, Tom Woolley (Non-fiction, Children's, 9/10E)

October 2015, Ivy Press, 96 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Summary from Ivy Press

 This book takes readers on a whirlwind tour of our planets weather and climate. 30 key topics explore and explain the how and why of our global weather and its effects, from atmospheric influences, the seasons, and climate zones to extreme events, forecasting, and global warming. Each topic is presented in a neat 30-second soundbite, supported by a 3-second flash summary and a full-page colourful artwork. Fun active missions support the topics and encourage kids to find out more.

Nayu's thoughts 

I love learning about weather because it's a fascinating subject as seen in this book which is a little unique. I love how it presents facts in both 30 seconds and 3 seconds to readers, although actual times will vary on the reading speed. The main point is the facts are concise and can explain the gist of various weather types and issues. On one page is the bulk of the text, laid out the same with a 3 second summary and 30 second paragraphs, followed by illustrations adding extra facts. This made it easier to read because I knew what the layout would be for every page. The experiments to understand a lot of the weather issues sounded exciting! I haven't tried any yet.

I'm positive that I never learnt what a biome is at school, making this an invaluable reference for readers of all ages. The one thing which for me made the book just less than perfect is the fact that the contrasting colours used for illustrations were quite dark and dull-a low contrast makes it harder to read if you have even mild visual difficulties (I do), which reduced my enjoyment a little because I had to spend a bit more time on the illustrations than the black on white text pages. Apart from that this is a fantastic resource for anyone seeking knowedge about the world we live in. I'll leave you with images from the book about my favourite weather topic: clouds and snow! 

Please excuse the picture quality - I like the different types of clouds!

 

Who doesn't like a pretty snowflake?

Suggested read 

A fun fiction book with science facts thrown in is Al's Awesome Science #1 Egg-speriments by Jane Clark and James Brown (Children's, 5 years +, 10/10E)