ACHUKA Book of the Day 14 Oct 2026

Publisher: words & pictures, Quarto
ISBN: 9781805700661

Children’s publishers have surpassed themselves this year in providing the pre-Christmas market with lots of general interest non-fiction picture books. Here’s another ACHUKA is happy to recommend. Clive Gifford is a long-standing author of children’s non-fiction and all the bite-sized blocks of text here are highly readable and well-informed. Paul Boston’s illustrations are exactly that: illustrative and explanatory.

Rather than closing with a page of World Top 5 Records (longest rivers, highest mountains etc.), a better way to end might have been to return to the message of the opening What A Planet! section, the contents of the book having confirmed how special our planet truly is.

How much do clouds weigh? Why are there pink lakes? What is the ‘Ring of Fire’? And was Earth really formed from the body of an ice giant? Discover the answers to these questions and so much more! 

Brimming with incredible facts about the extraordinary world around us, The Book of Planet Earth looks at how the world works, how people thought about Earth in the past and the challenges our home faces in the future.

Covering a variety of subjects in a fun way, learn how time, space, nature, science and culture all play a role in shaping Earth into the world we all live in.

Along the way, you’ll learn fascinating facts about:

• Earth’s place in space
• The layers of our planet
• Earthquakes, volcanoes and other geohazards
• Our oceans
• The weather and the atmosphere
• Human’s impact on the environment and climate
• What we can do to help the planet

Vibrant illustrations and fascinating nuggets of information make this book the perfect crowd-pleaser to entertain and amaze curious young minds. 

Absorbing, entertaining and surprising, The Book of Planet Earth will teach kidsto look at the world in a whole new way.

See more examples of Paul Boston’s work here: https://www.meiklejohn.co.uk/artist/Paul_Boston_MJN