My 7-year-old son increasingly declines a traditional bedtime story, but still enjoys 1-on-1 time before bed. I try and keep books involved in the process, though, so we often dive into non fiction as he loves finding out new facts and then talking about them. A lot of time recently has been spent researching gemstones and minerals and so I thought I’d move the geology theme on a bit with this fab book. It’s full of interesting info about geological and meteorological disasters, from avalanches to tropical cyclones, and also has a section on the impact of climate change on natural disasters. The page layouts have bold illustrations, engaging graphics and bite-sized bullets of information, which work really well for us at bedtime because we don’t have to read through lots of text, we can just pick and choose what interests us. H often flicks through and picks a page at randon; sometimtes he has a particular ‘disaster’ in mind, but usually he waits until a page catches his eye and then we snuggle down to find out more. It’s aimed at UK Key Stage 2 but with the accessible language and well-explained info, it could definitely be shared with slightly younger children. H has only just moved into juniors and there is nothing yet we have come across that he hasn’t been able to understand. If you’re like me and have a thing for endpapers, then check out the pic below.

Earth Shattering Events
Author: Robin Jacobs
Illustrator: Sophie Williams
Publisher: Cicada Books
ISBN: 9781908714701
Hardback: 64 pages

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