The Environment (What On Earth?); Jonathan Litton, illustrated by Pau Morgan

Everything is part of the environment and this is a lovely exploration of air, weather, pollution, water, plastic, gases, people, plants and animals. It is a great introduction to the environment and looks at how we as humans fit into the environment and what impact we have on it.

The book uses a simple approach and three distinct types of page; Explore, Investigate, Create. Concepts and ideas are explained and teach children about important issues (Explore) and simple and accessible experiments mean children can witness the effects first hand (Investigate, Create). Colour-coded page markers indicate the function of each page and the design and layout of the pages are very appealing to the young reader. Illustrations are simple, clear and relatable, and I particularly like the scenes that tell a story with characters and speech bubbles. Text is often set into small chunks and the use of coloured text boxes really helps break up the volume of text and no page will feel overwhelming for young children. Maps also feature and are again really accessible and clearly colour-coded.

What I really like about this book is that it actively engages the reader. Questions are asked for the reader to think about and there are all manner of experiments and things to do that will help children further understand the environment in which they live. A challenge at the end of the book rounds things off nicely and requires readers to use all the ideas that they have learnt about and create their own eco home. A couple of templates are provided at the back of the book to assist with specific activities and a detailed glossary explains words from ‘atmosphere’ to ‘sustainability'.

There is so much for the reader to do, whether it be trying out any one of the many experiments, matching endangered species to their habitats, writing an environment themed poem or untangling items and their carbon footprints - there is lots of fun to be had and learning to be done through this gem of a book.

Recommended for 6+.