The Great Big Book of Life

By Author / Illustrator

Ros Asquith, Mary Hoffman

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Frances Lincoln Publishers Ltd

ISBN

9781786031808

Format

Hardback

Published

07-03-2019

Synopsis

The Great Big Book of Life a glorious, diverse celebration of human life, from birth to death, by Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith. Featuring funny artwork and wonderfully sensitive and accessible text this book is a must have for children everywhere to learning everything they need to know about the story of life.

The sixth title in the Great Big Book series explores every stage of human life. From birth to starting nursery, being a teenager to becoming an adult, from work to relationships, homes and jobs, to aging illness and death.

This universal but challenging topic is dealt with Mary Hoffman and Ros Asquith's trademark sensitivity and humour and inclusivity. This is the perfect introduction for children to the huge topic of life and is sure to answer many of the question they have.

Reviews

What a fantastic book! The Great Big Book of Life includes different sections of information on each stage of life from being a baby to dying. Each section has incredible detail include covering how babies clap their hands, blow bubbles and chuckle with pleasure before turning into children who are able to go to school to learn and make friends. It then moves onto being an adult who goes to work (explaining that some people are luckier than others and really enjoy their jobs!) which then turns into people who are classed as old age. Finally, the book gives information about death - a fantastic, child-friendly way of talking about a difficult topic. It explains how all bodies wear out eventually and people die because there wouldn't be space in the world for new babies if old people didn't die eventually. This book is packed with information about human development throughout each stage of life in great detail. It would make a brilliant read for children of all ages but also a really good teaching book for parents or schools, to open up a conversation with young children about topics which are notoriously difficult to talk about - including where babies come from and how to deal with the death of people we care about. A really informative and interesting book with an appropriately informal tone. 32 pages / Ages 7+ / Reviewed by Lucy Newton, teacher