We haven't heard from our good friends at Top That Publishing in a while but they've been busily creating wonderful books, including this fantastic new range entitled "Sticker History" aimed at encouraging youngsters into finding out more about the ancient world.
Though we've covered four titles in our sneaky peek, there's quite a range including dinosaur and ice age-themed sticker books - you can check out the whole range over at Top That's Website: http://topthatpublishing.com/search?utype=consumer&q=sticker+history
So to the books themselves. Each book comprises a really neat and intuitive set of themed scenes on the various eras in history each book deals with.
Unlike most sticker books, younger children should find these very easy to use as there are handy 'footnotes' on characters and items in each scene helping those fussy little
misters and madams (like Charlotte) who absolutely insist on each sticker going in its rightful place.
Younger children might need a bit of a hand detaching some of the stickers (some of the larger and more complex shapes are fairly tricky to detach intact but we've found that in practically every sticker book we've ever reviewed so it's not a problem with the range itself).
Charlotte got busy with the Medieval Sticker Book first. Usually I leave her to get on with the important business of sticking and learning but it was great to see her toddling along to me with new discoveries she'd made - or funny bits she'd found in the book (ahem, bare bottoms doing big poos into castle moats are ALWAYS going to be well received by kids of a certain age!)
The books mix historical facts with a good sense of fun and
if there's one thing that helps youngsters soak up historical facts and figures very quickly indeed, it's humour whether visual or written (the success of Horrible Histories is testament to this fact, obviously). Josh and Ed have hit just the right balance of humour and the character work is brilliant in these books, making them particularly appealing for the 3-5 year age range and well beyond too.
Charlotte steadily worked through each of the books in turn, saving her favourite till last - the Ancient Egyptians Sticker Book. Everything from the construction of the pyramids to mummification is covered (or rather uncovered!) with tons and tons of stickers to place in each colourful and vibrant scene.
It's an utterly fantastic range and one we hope that Top That will expand upon with further titles (Charlotte points out that they really need to do a "Victorian" one - A future idea perhaps?)
Great stickers, brilliant humorous writing and art, not too stuffy and academic and certainly not too dumbed down either. Just the way we love our history books.
The Sticker History range was released back in April by Top That. Once again, check out their website to find out more about the entire range and Top That's other fantastic activity books for children of all ages.
http://topthatpublishing.com/
Charlotte's favourite bit: Yes, that bit in Medieval History where people used to hang their bums out of windows to do a poo. Ew!
Daddy's favourite bit: Great books to use either at home or in schools, and perfectly priced for upcoming stocking filler ideas.