Review: Zoom: Ocean Adventure by Susan Hayes & Sam Rennocks + Zoom: Space Adventure by Susan Hayes and Susanna Remiz (Children's, Board book, 10E/10E)

 

 July 2020, What on Earth Publishing, 36 pages, Hardback, Board Book, Review copies 

 Summary

Zoom Ocean Adventure from What On Earth Publishing 

Join Noah as he puts on his wetsuit and visits Earth’s most mysterious environment: the ocean. Come face to face with a great white shark, join dazzling fish on a coral reef, explore the depths of the ocean in Noah’s submarine, and discover your very own pirate treasure.

Zoom: Space Adventure from What On Earth Publishing 

Join Ava and her cat on their adventure into space, where you can visit the International Space Station, ride in a moon buggy, discover a Mars rover, journey past all the planets in the Solar System, and watch the greatest show in outer space: a supernova explosion.

Nayu's thoughts

These books are so fun! Yes, I do have a favourite which has to be Ava's tale in Zoom: Space Adventure, but Zoom: Ocean Adventure was really good too. Both are extremely sturdy board books which will stand up to being chewed on and torn at, or attempted to tear. The bright colours and well detailed illustrations match the adventure theme of the books. Both books start with the child in their room, preparing for an adventure. I liked how most of what's in the opening scene plays a part in the tale, sharks and planets alike feature for Ava and Noah. Parts of each book are deliberately cut out to add depth to the scene: for example Ava's space antics let her see the moon from afar, with a bit cut out and on turning the page what was the whole moon is actually part of the moon which Ava lands on and is really big. For Noah a shark's eye is also a giant squid's eye.

The reason why Ava's tale is my favourite is because there is a countdown before her space rocket launches: the 5,4,3,2,1 is shown in numbers that are cut out, one per page, Each is layer in a way that shows what the engineers and other technicians do in their final checks prior to launch. It struck me as extremely clever, Plus Ava's cat is with her, and as a cat lover I totally love that! I love how she visits most of the main places in the solar system, apart from Pluto which I know isn't a planet any more, but I grew up with it as a planet so to me it forever will be a planet! It looks so odd without it included.

Both children visit an awful lot of their respective place, touching on all the main points, having a few creatures and planets labelled on each page to help readers learn more about the areas. There is a wonderful large pop-up at the end of the book before each child returns home, which made me smile and will be unexpected to first time readers (I did suspect it could happen as I've read similar books). These are definitely a must buy for any reader wanting to explore the world both on and off this planet.

Suggested read 

Similarly themed books include National Trust: Up and Down, A Walk in the Countryside by Rosalind Beardshaw (Children's, Picture book, Board book, 10/10)