Non fiction titles must be quite tricky to balance just right to engage children's imaginations and interests. Too dumbed down and they run the risk of being no more than books you'll glance through once or twice. Too complicate and "school-book-like" and kids will just assume that it's more stealth learning being forced on them.
Previous Big Picture Press release "Animalium" pulled off the neat trick of being detailed and fact packed but also being gorgeously attractive and immersive for kids. A big hefty book, perfect for sprawling out full length on the floor with, we absolutely loved it and you can find our review of Animalium here (It's probably no surprise to find that it was also a "Book of the Week" winner).
Now we have returned to the museum that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home with "Historium", another gigantic hefty book that allows us to explore the rich history of civilisation through a deep and thorough examination of the artifacts unearthed across the various contintents of the world.
We love museums, and we are lucky enough to live quite near museums that have artifacts featured in this book (the mighty Pitt Rivers Museum has the most amazing collection of masks from across the world, one or two of which are found in this book).
Ancient civilisations are the focus here, so you will see artifacts from Ancient Egypt...
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| Egyptian artifacts examined in glorious detail with sumptuous illustrations and spreads like the one above |
...as well as other countries and cultures across the world. Each artifact is described in detail but the astonishingly gorgeous illustrations will ultimately make this book a surefire hit - and also ensure that children will want to use it as a jumping-off point for further explorations of their own local museums too!
Charlotte's favourite bit: Finding the amazing Viking chess pieces we saw on our recent visit to York's mind-blowing Jorvik Viking Centre
Daddy's favourite bit: A truly gorgeous book, something that could easily be handed down from generation to generation until it becomes a revered artifact itself!
Check out the fabulous trailer for this amazing book below!
Historium
Curated by Richard Wilkinson and Jo Nelson
Published by Big Picture Press
Release Date: 1st September 2015