Okido

My Big World: Facts and Fun, Questions and Answers, Things to Make and Do ($18.95, Thames and Hudson, Ages 4-8) is not your every day children’s book. It was written, designed and illustrated by a group of London-based professionals called Okido who create a children’s art and science magazine of the same name.

My Big World is about a girl named Koko and her fellow explorers who want to learn more about planet earth. At the beginning of the book, readers learn about Koko and her friends and are then invited to make a paper chain representing each member of their own families. We also read more about human geography such as different kinds of foods and where they come from, houses, gardens and how to get around town. There’s even a Busy Town game board in the book that looks like a lot of fun.

Naturally, physical geography is covered and includes rivers and streams, beaches, forests and mountains. There are pages covering weather, animals, oceans, islands, day and night and sun, moon and stars. All throughout the book are activities and games children can play, and some indicate an adult is needed – making a pinwheel for the beach, making veggie burgers, growing your own seedlings.

The book works because it makes kids think about their own surroundings and the way they live as well as how other children who are very different from them live. It also makes them appreciate the environment and encourages them to want to explore new places. Much of the copy is written in short sentences inside speech bubbles making it easy and interesting to read.

This is a big and sturdy 64-page hardbound book, printed on thick paper with lots of color and imagination. There’s a whole lot of information inside, and I love that it is meant to be used as a reference guide for the littlest readers with colorful and inviting illustrations. Between the information and the activities, My Big World will keep curious kids busy for many wonderful hours.

-Reviewed by Debbie Glade