From the back cover: "Why is our place magic? Why are its islands shaky? Why are our mountains tall and our forests green? Why are some lakes blue? What happens below the waves? Who used to live here? What changed when mammals arrived? What happens in the dark? In this fun-filled, fact-rich book, award-winning science writer Simon Pollard Shares the magic, secrets, mysteries, and marvels of Aotearoa New Zealand's natural world".
National Library Entry
Title: Why is that lake so blue? : a children's guide to New Zealand's natural world / Simon Pollard.
Date: 2018.
By: Pollard, Simon, (Simon David) author.
Identifier: ISBN 9780994146014 paperback
Publisher: Wellington, New Zealand : Te Papa Press, 2018.
Format: 111 pages : colour illustrations ; 26 cm
Since our move to New Zealand last August, I have been wanting my daughter to learn more about her new home country. I found this gem of a book in a local bookstore and we used it to discover more about New Zealand's geography and the natural world.
I loved how each chapter begins with an interesting question and I especially love how the author answers the questions with informative, engaging text... and lots of it! He does not dumb down his answers and at the end of each chapter, there are extra pictures and information to explore the topic further.
Each day we would read part of a chapter and narrate. Sometimes I found a YouTube video to go along with what we were reading about. When we got to the factual boxes at the end of each chapter, we used these to springboard to find out more about something on the page. There was so much to learn! There was also plenty of opportunity for mapping as well so I had a large black and white map of New Zealand ready to go and we mapped various cities and geographical features.
Here are some page examples so you can get a feel of the writing for yourself.
The author Simon Pollard is a scientist. He really likes spiders! He has won various awards for other children's books about science, so this is no surprise to me that his book is so well written and put together. There is also some beautiful photography.
Some parents will want to be aware that this book contains evolutionary material with references to Gondwana, the Earth being billions of years old, and the evolution of species.
I highly recommend this book for families with children over 8.
Purchase this book (AbeBooks)