The big story of being alive by Neal Layton

Popular author and illustrator Neal Layton has added another humorous factual book to his collection. The book begins with the notion that people are all different but have one thing in common - they are all alive. The information then mentions things that are no longer alive or not alive at all. This then leads into the fact that living things all develop from a single cell which contains many important things. DNA tells the cells what to do and then growth happens. An uncomplicated concept of reproduction is introduced and the growth of the baby is simply documented in both words and pictures.

This is a refreshing and colourful book full of easily accessible facts and big, bold illustrations. The book will appeal to early years students and their adults who are tasked with providing a simple explanation of how life begins. It will be especially useful as an introduction to the concept of living things.

Themes: Science, Cells, Differences, Reproduction, Living and Non-Living, Humour, Facts.

Kathryn Beilby