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The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals by Sami Bayly

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 14 Mar 2025

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“A treasure trove, ideal for ages from 8 year olds and older who are interested in natural history and fascinating creatures.” Schooldays
“

A fascinating compendium of the strange and wonderful animals that once roamed our Earth. From the well-known woolly mammoth and sabre-toothed tiger to the laughing owl said to cackle like a madman, discover more about these incredible lost species. Children  will pore over the illustrations of unusual animals, discovering why these creatures became extinct.

Sami Byly is an  author and illustrator based in Newcastle, Australia. After studying at The University of Newcastle, Sami graduated in 2018 with a bachelor of Natural History Illustration (Honours). In her final year, she was approached by publishers and gained her first book deal, which kick started her career in publishing. Since 2019, she has published six books and has been shortlisted for/won over 20 awards.

Here Sami is giving some background on a previous title in the Illustrated Encyclopaedia series:

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MEGA: The Most Enormous Animals Ever by Jules Howard ill. Gavin Scott

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 27 Feb 2025

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  • Why did some of the largest creatures on Earth go extinct?
  • What do we know about their lives from the clues they left behind?
  • How can we protect the megafauna that roam our planet today?

Unearth these secrets and many more in this bumper-sized information book written by zoology correspondent, science-writer and broadcaster Jules Howard. The jacket cover unfolds to become a poster.

This well-designed luxury publication will be a much-desired title for home shelves and school libraries.

Gavin Scott, the illustrator, studied Natural History Illustration at university and later went on to enter the world of character design and children’s illustration. You can follow him on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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Lots by Marc Martin

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 18 Nov 2024

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“Marc Martin’s incredible illustrations capture the spirit of every place and culture, and are accompanied with quirky details about each one. A wonderful book.” BookTrust
“For the child browser, attracting attention through quirky images that need careful exploration.” BfK

See also:
A Stone Is A Story [ACHUKA Book of the Day 13 Dec 2023]
Every Child A Song [ACHUKA Book of the Day 20 Nov 2019]

A wonderfully illustrated big book celebration of the world and its diversity… First published in hardback a few years ago, it’s great to be able to recommend this new paperback edition.

Travel to Hong Kong, the Amazon, Antarctica, India — from the villages, towns and cities where most people live, to the deserts and vast oceans that cover the surface of the planet. There is so much to discover  — lots of people, lots of places, lots of different landscapes, and lots of cultures.

Packed with hundreds of brilliant snippets of information, Lots is perfect for curious children who love to ask lots of questions about the wonders of our world. Expect to see sleepy sloths, colourful cows, staggering skylines, terrible traffic, bustling bodies, and even burglarising baboons!

I wanted to make a book that encapsulated all the unique things you find in various places around the world, without resorting to travel guide clichés or being too heavy handed in its approach to the subject matter. It had to feel spontaneous, familiar and fun. I’m also a big fan of M. Sasek and his ‘This Is’ series, and in some ways, ‘LOTS’ is a kind of homage to those books, albeit in a more condensed form.

Find out lots more about the book here >>>

Marc Martin is an illustrator, artist and book maker based in Melbourne, Australia. His illustrations have been commissioned by clients such as Monocle, Wired, T2, The Financial Review, GQ, Luxury Travel, Telstra, The Australian Open Tennis Championships, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and various publishers. Follow him on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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There’s No Such Thing as a Silly Question: 213 Weird Questions, Expertly Answered! by Mike Rampton ill. Guilherme Karsten

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 Nov 2024

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There’s nothing more essential for young minds, especially at this time of year, than a miscellany of arbitrary and fascinating facts reliably researched — and here’s a brilliantly silly question-and-answer book, fact-checked by world-leading experts from across the University of Cambridge.

Did you know that there’s no set number of bones in the human body? Most babies are born with around 300 bones, but by the time they’ve grown up, they usually have between 206 and 213.
Covering a range of subjects from science, technology, engineering and mathematics to evolution, zoology, social history and more, this hilarious yet clever book expertly answers 213 of the most unusual and interesting questions you never thought to ask about the world – one for at least every bone in your body!

There really is no such thing as a silly question.

Guilherme the illustrator lives in Blumenau, in southern Brazil. In 2010, he won a national contest for new children’s book illustrators and has been working with editorial illustrations ever since. After illustrating many books for other authors, Guilherme started writing his own books in 2017. Guilherme’s work has been published worldwide and has received various accolades, including the Jabuti Award and the Golden Pinwheel Grand Award.

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Amazing Asia: An Encyclopedia of an Epic Continent by Rashmi Sirdeshpande ill. Jason Lyon

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 23 Oct 2024

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“The most beautiful book you’ll come across, from the cover with its fabric pattern details and intricate foil embossing, to full colour maps, portraits and illustrations throughout. In the overpopulated world of oversized non-fiction books, this one is a beaut.” Just Imagine
“As well as the abundance of information on offer in this book, it also boasts incredible illustrations and a striking visual design Jason Lyon’s artwork pops off the page with clever colour gradient backgrounds, drawings, and a beautiful cover with an intricately inlaid golden relief.” BookTrust

I found the main information paragraphs in this sumptuously produced non-fiction title could have benefitted from a bump up in font size of just one point, but that is a very minor quibble. It’s clearly been a labour of love on the part of both the writer and illustrator and their hearts must zing with pride every time they pick the book up. A non-fiction highlight of the year for sure.

The book celebrates the five geographic regions — East, West, North and Central, South and South East — and benefits from a consistency of presentation in each section.

Each regional section includes:

  • Highly illustrated regional map: Understand the geography and get to know the region’s countries and fascinating facts about each of them.
  • Historical timeline and history spotlight: Time-travel back to explore Asia’s magnificent empires and dynasties, rulers, leaders, protests and conflicts.
  • People and culture: Learn about the important regional foods, ways of life, industry, arts and crafts, music and dance.
  • Wildlife and landscapes: Explore breathtaking vistas, animal and plant life, such as the Bengal tiger, banyan trees, the Chocolate Hills, and the Mekong river.
  • Spectacular sights: Discover an awe-inspiring panorama with stunning, intricate details, such as Mount Fuji, Petra and the ancient city of Samarkand.
  • Change makers and superstars: Meet the region’s most inspiring people from every area of life – e.g., Hayao Miyazaki, Professor Maryam Mirzakhani, Sachin Tendulkar, and Yip Pin Xiu.
  • Today, tomorrow: Wander across the region in the present day and take a glimpse at what its incredibly exciting future might look like.

Jason Lyon is a British-Chinese illustrator fluent in both English and Chinese Mandarin. You can follow him on

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Jason Lyon 李金泽 (@jasonlyon_)

And follow the author there too;

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Rashmi Sirdeshpande (@rashmiwriting)

The Super Skeleton – Dr Roopa’s Body Books by Roopa Farooki ill. Viola Wang

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 9 Oct 2024

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See also:
The Brilliant Brain [ACHUKA Book of the Day 31 Jan 2024]

ACHUKA really loves this new series of books about the body. In particular, we admire the illustrations and the way the books have been designed.  First-class, highly-accessible information books for young readers.

What do humans have in common with fish, snakes and birds? We all have a SKELETON: the collection of bones which gives our body its shape. With words by Internal Medicine doctor and writer of the acclaimed memoirEverything Is True, Roopa Farooki, and bright, bold, pictures by award-winning artist Viola Wang, this is a lively and charming look at what bones are made of, all the different jobs they do, what happens when one breaks and how children can keep their bones strong and healthy as they grow.

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The History of Information by Chris Haughton & Loonie Park

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 2 Sep 2024

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See also:
Maybe… [2022 Oscars Prize Winner]

The debut non-fiction book from author and illustrator Chris Haughton takes readers on an illuminating journey through the evolution of knowledge and communication. Published by DK with all their usual design flair.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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We are used to technology improving all the time. Next year we will have better phones, cars, and technology. What is it that makes technology improve rather than stay static or even fall into decline? The answer is information. If we are able to record knowledge we can collect and share it. We can continue adding to it and it grows and grows. It hasn’t always been like this. For a long time, human progress was very slow or static. At some points it felt like our progress even ran backwards! But the ability to record information in the form of writing and collecting data has caused an explosion of technological progress. This book tells the story of how we came to collect information, and what it means for us.

Astrophysics for Supervillains – Supervillain Academy by Dr. Matthew Bothwell ill. Nathan Reed

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 9 Jul 2024

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Based on real questions from children, Dr Matt Bothwell — public astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy — has created the Supervillain Academy to teach astrophysics to middle graders.

Could you crash the Moon into the Earth?
If the Sun explodes, would we all get vaporised?
What’s the weather like on Mercury?

Discover the answers to these questions and many more at the Supervillain Academy, the magnificently morbid school for young bad guys-in-training. Facts about space are all well and good, but discovering that if you threw someone into a black hole, they would be spaghettified — stretched out long and thin before getting squashed smaller than an atom — is fascinatingly gruesome.

At the Supervillain Academy, readers will learn about the solar system, galaxies, the universe, and the answer to the question “Which planet is entirely populated by robots?” 

Entertainingly illustrated throughout by Nathan Reed:

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SLA – Information Book Award 2014

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Apologies for delay in posting news of the winners of the SLA Information Book Award.
This is an important award and the shortlisted books as well as the eventual winners deserve more attention than they tend to get, compared with winners of picture book and fiction awards.
Last year I was able to cover the event while attending the Bath Children’s Festival for two days. I had intended being there again this year, but the Festival programme either side of the Information Book Award presentation last Tuesday evening was too skeletal to warrant another two-day visit.

Congratulations to the winners and all the shortlisted authors/illustrators.

The Judges choice Winner was Get into Art: Animals by Susie Brooks (Kingfisher 9780753435762), an excellent book full of information and activities; beautifully designed and covering a huge range of artworks with an animal theme.  This will have many applications in both classroom and library.  The Children’s Choice Winner was Starving the Anxiety Gremlin by Kate Collins-Donnelly, illustrated by Rosy Salaman (Jessica Kingsley publishers 9781849053419) a book on CBT techniques for teenagers and young adults, full of practical help for those suffering with anxiety.  A book all school libraries should have a copy of!

via SLA – Information Book Award 2014.

The Tenured vs. Debut Author Report – some interesting facts, figures and graphs relating to ebook sales

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• Big-5 publishers are massively reliant on their most established authors to the tune of 63% of their e-book revenue.
 
• Roughly 46% of traditional publishing’s fiction dollars are coming from e-books.
 
• Very few authors who debut with major publishers make enough money to earn a living—and modern advances don’t cover the difference.
 
• In absolute numbers, more self-published authors are earning a living wage today than Big-5 authors.
 
• When comparing debut authors who have equal time on the market, the difference between self-published and Big-5 authors is even greater.
In this report, we will also reveal how e-book earnings represent roughly 64% of a traditionally published fiction author’s income, and therefore why authors should focus less on statistics geared toward publisher earnings and trade bookstore sales and consider their own incomes instead. Finally, we will tackle the difficult question of just how many authors are earning a living wage today. The results are sobering.

via The Tenured vs. Debut Author Report – Author Earnings.

This final chart reveals a startling insight: If the Big 5 hadn’t signed a new author since 2009, and simply released new works from their long-established authors, they would still be making 63% of the e-book revenue that they are making today. Ownership of backlist and long-tenured authors is quite clearly big publishing’s most powerful commodity.

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