Wide Eyed Editions (a Quarto imprint) stunned us with their first set of releases some years back, and it's been a delight to see the range maintain those high standards, gorgeous presentation and of course a serious amount of writing and illustrative talent contributing to their amazing range of books, covering a massively diverse range of subjects.
"The School of Art" was an early title that impressed the socks off us, taking the approach of involving the reader in a love of art - and showing them how they can draw on (pun intended) their own skills with the help of awesome art tutors who pop up throughout the book. It's a dazzling little title this, and such a great idea because kids instantly gain confidence if a book takes the right approach in showing them how to tap into their own creativity and imagination.
One thing we always look for in non-fiction books are books that can serve up a ton of facts and interesting information but do so in a 'wow factor' kind of way, and this certainly fits the bill. Though kids are often lured away from non-fiction books by a wide range of interactive apps on mobile phones and tablets, it's been great to see books clawing some of those readers back, and inviting more reader participation and interaction as they convey their information.
These books have always gone down really well on the blog, and they're often the titles people ask us about when they're searching out books for their kids (adults, it seems, are more inclined to pick up an interesting non-fiction title for a child relative than they are a fiction title, I wonder why that is?)
"The Big Book of Football" for example. We're not remotely football fans but thanks to some brilliant art direction and some excellent historical information and a ton of info about the modern game, this actually ended up being one of our favourite sport-based books, and an absolutely essential purchase for young footie fans who want to read even more about the beautiful game.
We've been fortunate enough to review so many Wide Eyed books and we're including all of our reviews below (be warned, there are a LOT of them!)
See if you can spot how many times they fetched up in the "Book of the Week" slot, definitely an honour for a non-fiction title and proof positive that their range is absolutely top notch.
Original Review Links
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 8th July 2016 - "Natural World: A Visual Compendium of Wonders from Nature" by Amanda Wood, Mike Jolley and Owen Davey (Wide Eyed Editions)
A perfect trio of engaging books to stimulate your imagination from Wide Eyed Editions
Two truly beautiful books for your tinies from Wide Eyed Editions - "Colours" and "One Thousand Things"
Creaturepedia by Adrienne Barman (Wide Eyed Editions)
Atlas of Adventures by Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)
Celebrating iconic musicians and fantastic scientists with a pair of glorious new books from Wide Eyed Editions
A fantastic pair of infographic-styled books introducing legends of Rock Music and Ancient Greece (Wide Eyed Editions)
Two stunning new titles full of inspirational people in a brilliant new range from Wide Eyed Editions. "Fantastic Footballers" and "People of Peace"
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 9th March 2018 - "Destination: Planet Earth" by Jo Nelson and Tom Clohosy Cole (Wide Eyed Editions)
How To Look After Your Puppy (Pet Cadet Series) by Helen Piers and Kate Sutton (Wide Eyed Editions)
The School of Art by Teal Triggs and Daniel Frost (Wide Eyed Editions)
More mapping fun and a ton of activities in "Atlas of Adventures Activity Fun Pack" coming soon from Wide Eyed Editions
Field Guide: Creatures Great and Small - 35 prints to Colour by Lucy Engelman (Wide Eyed Editions)
Nature's Day by Kay Maguire and Danielle Kroll (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Wild World" by Angela McAllister and Hvass & Hannibal (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReaditDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 20th October 2017 - "Illumanatomy" by Kate Davies and Carnovsky (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's First Spacetastic Book of the Week - Week Ending 19th July 2019: "When We Walked on the Moon" by David Long and Sam Kalda (Wide Eyed Editions)
"What do Animals Do All Day?" by Wendy Hunt and Studio Muti (Wide Eyed Editions)
"The Big Book of Football" by Mundial, illustrated by Damien Weighill (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th June 2019: Commemorating the 7th Anniversary of the D-Day Landings with the stunning "D-Day: Untold Stories of the Normandy Landings" by Michael Noble and Alexander Mostov (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Maps of the United Kingdom" by Rachel Dixon and Livi Gosling (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Voyage Through Space" by Katy Flint and Cornelia Li (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th September 2018: "Curiositree: Human World" by A.J Wood, Mike Jolley and Andres Lozano (Wide Eyed Editions)
EtchArt: Forgotten Jungle by Dinara Mirtalipova, A.J Wood and Mike Jolley (Wide Eyed Editions)
Step inside a world of scintillating art with the new "Art Masterclass" series from Hanna Konola and Wide Eyed Editions
Two fantastic new books to help you get to know our planet (and beyond). Life on Earth: Ocean and Life on Earth: Space by Heather Alexander and Andres Lozano (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 16th February 2018 - "Young Gifted and Black" by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins (Wide Eyed Editions)
The Hello Atlas by Ben Handicott and Kenard Pak (Wide Eyed Editions)
Atlas of Miniature Adventures by Emily Hawkins and Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 7th October 2016 - "Illuminature" by Rachel Williams and Carnovsky (Wide Eyed Editions)
3,2,1...Draw! Reimagine your world with 50 drawing activities By Serge Bloch (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 14th June 2019: "Planet Fashion: 100 Years of Fashion History" by Natasha Slee and Cynthia Kittler (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReaditDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 3rd July 2020: "I Am Not A Label" by Cerrie Burnell and Lauren Baldo (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 24th January 2020: "Search and Find a Number of Numbers" by A.J Wood and Allan Sanders (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 3rd May 2019: "Boy Oh Boy" by Dr Cliff Leek and Bene Rohlmann (Wide Eyed Editions)
Plantopedia: Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth by Adrienne Barman (Wide Eyed Editions)
"The Alphabet of Alphabets" by A.J Wood, Mike Jolley and Allan Sanders (Wide Eyed Editions)
"What Do Grown Ups Do All Day?" by Virginie Morgand (Wide Eyed Editions)
Dinosaur Detective's Search and Find Rescue Mission by Sophie Guerrive (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Stars Before Bedtime: A Mindful Fall-Asleep Book" by Dr Jessamy Hibberd, Claire Grace and Hannah Tolson (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Book of the Week - Week Ending 14th February 2020: "Everybody Counts: A Counting Story from 0 to 7.5 Billion" by Kristin Roskifte (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Poems Aloud" by Joseph Coelho and Daniel Gray-Barnett (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Atlas of Ocean Adventures" by Emily Hawkins and Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Queer Heroes" by Arabelle Sicardi and Sarah Tanat-Jones (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Sounds of Nature: World of Forests" by Robert Frank Hunter (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Step Into Your Power: 23 Lessons on How to Live Your Best Life" by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins (Wide Eyed Editions)
"A Year of Nature Poems" by Joseph Coelho and Kelly Louise Judd (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Book of the Week - Week Ending 23rd November 2018: "The Dictionary of Dinosaurs" by Dr Matthew Baron and Dieter Braun (Natural History Museum Books / Wide Eyed Editions)
"Atlas of Adventures: Wonders of the World" by Ben Handicott and Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)
"All Aboard the Voyage of Discovery" by Emily Hawkins, Tom Adams and Tom Clohosy Cole (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Illuminatlas" by Kate Davies and Carnovsky (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Sounds of Nature: World of Birds" by Robert Frank Hunter (Wide Eyed Editions)
"Spot the Mistake: Journeys of Discovery" by Amanda Wood, Mike Jolley and Frances Castle (Wide Eyed Editions)
Atlas of Dinosaur Adventures by Emily Hawkins and Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)
A beautiful pair of activity books to bring out your artistic side. "EtchArt Hidden Forest" and "Etchart Secret Sea" by A.J Wood, Mike Jolley and Dinara Mirtalipova (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Second Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 15th September 2017 - "Pirates Magnified" by Professor David Long and Harry Bloom (Wide Eyed Editions)
ReadItDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 5th May 2017 - "Spot the Mistake: Lands of Long Ago" by Amanda Wood, Mike Jolley and Frances Castle (Wide Eyed Editions)
The School of Music by Meurig and Rachel Bowen, illustrated by Daniel Frost (Wide Eyed Editions)
100 Steps for Science: Why it works and how it happened by Dr Lisa Jane Gillespie and Yukai Du (Wide Eyed Editions)
Labyrinth by Theo Guignard (Wide Eyed Editions)
Atlas of Animal Adventures by Rachel Williams, Emily Hawkins and Lucy Letherland (Wide Eyed Editions)