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| Neal Layton |
| Hodder Children's Books |
| 0340881712 |
| Oct 2006 |
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Neal Layton’s “The Story of Everything” is just that. This vibrant and dynamic pop-up book charts the history of the universe from the big bang through to the earth’s conception and the gestation of first life – underpinned by a brief explanation of Darwinism told through the inclusion of a miniature edition “Fish Fins and Fings”.
The dominance of dinosaurs and their eventual extinction is relayed as too is the evolution of mammals and more latterly, a double-page spread about apes including those with bigger brains! Fans of Layton’s “Oscar and Arabella” series will be pleased to note that his penchant for the prehistoric include a self-referential mammoth during the ice-age. The development of homes and habitations is depicted and this section is concluded through realisation of the importance of recorded information and discovery in books. The book ends pondering the next phase of the story asserting that readers will have to ‘wait and see’ conversationally adding through a pull-tab that it might take a million years or so…
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Pop-Ups: January 2007 Archives
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| Mandy Archer and Jenny Arthur |
| Hodder Children's Books |
| 0340917393 |
| Sep 2006 |
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A welcome pop-up edition of one of Hodder's “(Not so) Scary Monsters” series, “The Marvellous Monster Muddle” opens as Malcolm, who loves to give presents, sadly has none left to give. So it is that lolloping, puffing and peering he sets off on a quest to find new presents. Finding a treasure chest of potential gifts, Malcolm delights in giving these out to his friends along with sloppy kisses. Each of the presents, however, serves to cause a number of frights as, using the gifts as fancy dress, the monsters are no longer able to recognise one another. Laughing at the realisation of who each monster is, Malcolm is delighted that his gifts have brought so much mirth and merriment.
Focusing on the experiences, the possessions, the disguises and masks that are erected before us throughout life, “The Marvellous Monster Muddle” outlines the shared commonality of life that forms all of our foundations…
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