ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 18th May 2018 - "How The Borks Became" by Jonathan Emmett and Elys Dolan (Otter-Barry Books)

Oooh now this is definitely something fresh, exciting and original. A book about evolution for tinies? Picture Book of the Week fare for sure...!
Kids and their questions, and their endearing and endlessly inquiring minds. How on earth can we, as adults, nurture their natural curiosity? Through amazing books like this of course!

Jonathan Emmett and Elys Dolan have cooked up the superb "How the Borks Became" to show just how a strange tribe of animals managed to survive through aeons of changes across their tiny little planet of Charleebob (which is a lot like earth).

The Borks start off relatively simple, and lead an idyllic existence but some borks are born differently. Some have long necks, others have shaggy fur, others are tiny and quick.

It's a case of survival of the fittest as the borks weather natural disasters, vicious predators and changing temperatures. Naturally, not everyone makes it through so if your little ones get easily upset by some of the creatures in this book not making it to the end, definitely give it a flick through first.

Personally I admire the guts of Jonathan sticking to his guns here with his vision, Elys for sensitively depicting that aspect of evolution - and Otter-Barry for picking up a book that feels so awesomely different and true to its core content.

With a really entertaining story, and a ton of amazing real-life facts about how animals evolve and how Charles Darwin first came up with the theories in "The Origin of Species" that radically changed the world's view of how we came into being and evolved too (Clue: Aliens had nothing to do with it, or so we think!)

Jonathan's humorous writing style marries perfectly to Elys Dolan's gloriously comic and brilliantly realised alt-earth here in a truly superb book.

C's best bit: Great facts about Charles Darwin oh and tiny quinches were definitely her fave animal in this.

Daddy's favourite bit: What an utterly brilliant way to describe evolution. Full of imagination, cleverness, detail and fun. Highly recommended, this!

"How the Borks Became" by Jonathan Emmett and Elys Dolan is out now, published by Otter-Barry Books (kindly supplied for review).