ReadItDaddy's First Book of the Week - Week Ending 23rd September 2016 - "Botanicum - Welcome to the Museum" by Professor Kathy Willis and Katie Scott (Big Picture Press)

Our first Book of the Week this week is the third in the incredible "Welcome to the Museum" series, the stunning "Botanicum" by Professor Kathy Willis and Katie Scott...
The "Welcome to the Museum" series from Big Picture Press have set the standards sky-high for children's non fiction books. First, Animalium wowed us with an exploration of the animal species around the world, examining them in exquisite detail with the most fabulous illustrations. Then the museum invited us to explore historical artifacts in the equally stunning "Historium".

Now we turn our steely gaze to the world of plants.

We're actually very very lucky here in Oxford to have an astonishing collection of plants in our botanic gardens. We love visiting and we also love exploring our local arboretums so digging into "Botanicum" was fantastic for helping us recognise plants and fungi we've seen 'in the flesh'.

The book is divided up into regions and plant types, ranging from the most amazing orchids to (in our opinion) equally beautiful fungi.

Stunning, though our own attempts to grow these at home don't quite match up to these amazing illustrations

Kathy Willis' enthusiasm for her subject shines through from every single page. Produced in conjunction with The Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, and once again with stunning illustrations reminiscent of victorian etchings (but beautifully coloured) by Katie Scott, this is one heck of an astonishing collection.

A new way to look at fruits you may already know. What gorgeous plants!

It might be a bit too early to start talking about christmas present lists but this book definitely should find its way into many a christmas stocking, without a doubt!

Charlotte's favourite bit: Learning more about amazing fungi (she's got a bit of a 'thing' about fungi!)

Daddy's favourite bit: Loved the amazing fruits and plants, of course gotta love any book that features the Coco De Mer, my favourite plant.

(Kindly sent to us for review by Big Picture Press)

"Botanicum"

Written by Professor Kathy Willis

Illustrated by Katie Scott

Published by Big Picture Press

Publication Date: 8th September 2016