Book review: 'Little Kids First BIG Book of Science' teaches a surprising amount of information

We're still on a big Earth Day kick over here!

I've never considered 128 pages to make for a large book. But that's exactly what National Geographic Kids, "Little Kids First BIG Book of Science" is. This book is jam-packed with all kinds of information that my young elementary-aged children have enjoyed reading.  A lot.

Image from National Geographic

Chapters include sections about life science, earth and space, physical science, and great inventions. There's even a section that explains what science is and the kinds of questions scientists ask. Then, scientists are obviously so cool, young readers learn how they can be scientists too. This book teaches every thing from birds, hydrothermal vents, and fossils to growing food and moon rocks.

One my kids' favorite things to do with this book is to turn to any page at random and read it. The "Try This!" sections, where kids can do things like simple experiments and answer science-related questions have also been fun for us.

I've appreciated how easy it is to just read a section or two. You know how some books have chapters that stretch forever and you just want to be done reading to your kids because you have things to do?

No?

Oh, I guess I'm the only lazy parent out there. Well, then the fact that each mini chapter is only a few pages will probably only appeal to me.

Ahem.

Another thing that appealed to me was the pronunciations of long/difficult science words are included. Yay for saying words right the first time!

Oh, maybe I'm also the only parent who's read a book out loud to their children and mispronounced a word several times only to find out later and then worry about the future of their children's scholastic life? Hmmm?

Going back to my review....

As always, NatGeo has amazing photographs that sing to my soul. Kids these days really have no idea how lucky they are to have constant access to books that are not only interesting to read, but gorgeous to look at.

"Little Kids First BIG Book of Science" is a clean book you can feel absolutely comfortable giving to your kids. This book will probably be best for kids ages 5 to 10. My 11-year-old told me this was too simplistic for him and my 7-year-old loves it.

Author Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld has written scores of science books for children and has won many awards for her work.

Book breakdown:
128 pages
Full color photographs
Best for ages 5-10
Educational factor: high
Christian content: no
Parents could be concerned about: nothing