Novelty Non-Fiction

Sounds of the Wild: Night-Time
Sounds of the Wild: Jungle
by Maurice Pledger
(Templar)
Each of these stunning book has five dramatic pop-up spreads showing a wildlife scene and, as you open the page, you get an accompanying soundtrack full of birdsong, growls, and other relevant sounds. As the titles suggest, Night-time looks at creatures of the night in different parts of the world, whereas Jungle looks at life in a variety of forest and jungle environments. There’s a small amount of text with each pop-up spread, but the real information is on the intervening pages where a numbered key for each pop-up helps you identify the different creatures and learn more about them.
The quality of the sound, the artwork and the paper engineering are all exceptional. These books capture the attention of everyone we show them too, from babies to adults.
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The Human Body
(Templar)
In this book, imaginative paper engineering helps bring the body to life. You can wiggle a spine to see how the vertebrae move, pump blood through a vein to see a valve in action and make a fingernail grow. Pop ups show the different parts of the body in detail and the text provides plenty of information in a way that’s easy to understand without talking down to the reader.
Ages 8+
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Inventions: pop-up models from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci
(Templar)
This is one of those books that make you say ‘wow’ as soon as you open it. It’s carefully designed to look like the da Vinci’s notebooks on which it is based, with sepia pages full of handwritten text and his own sketches. The words and diagrams explain the thoughts and science behind each of the inventions that leap to life as you turn the pages. It should fascinate older readers and adults, especially boys and budding engineers.
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