This is a very interesting read. Although it is very wordy, I love that it puts hard to understand concepts into pictures and metaphors that younger children can relate to and understand. It is definitely not a book you would read to a class in one sitting, it could be used for some really great projects and lessons, especially for GT students

اگر این کتاب رو همون موقع که عشق نجوم و کتاب‌های علمی بودم می‌خوندم... وای که دیوانه‌اش می‌شدم

I thought this was a quite exceptional book. Not necessarily for the scaling of big things like space, time, continents, etc. More for the visual images it created of the many social and economic inequalities in this world. A great book for starting discussions about the world with our children.

Review to come...

Reviewed from a NetGalley copy. Thank you, Kids Can Press!

I love David J. Smith's books. He takes these huge ideas that are tough for kids (and adults) to really get and he makes them accessible. For instance, he condenses the events of the last 3000 years into one month. Now I get a better sense of the relative time, like seeing how much of a gap there is between when the first Olympic games were held in Greece and when Jesus was born, or between when the Vikings reached North America and when Columbus did. So stinkin' cool.

This is one of those books I wish I could buy everyone. As a tennis coach, I have had to learn how to say the same thing 10 different ways, exactly the goal of this book. It succeeds in an easy to understand, fun way. Perfect for 6-12 years old kids.

ARC supplied by publisher via NetGalley

I really appreciate the way that David Smith can represent concepts in a way that can be understood (this works particularly well in terms of time - given the age in which humans have been on earth), and then adding into that the various inventions, and very big ideas, such as the differences in water use, energy consumption, etc., around the planet. This would be a phenomenal resource for a wide variety of ages, as it would work not only for introducing these concepts but also provide a springboard for discussing them, as students that can grasp them may then grapple with their implications.

I received a digital copy of this book from net galley.

Let me say that this book is quite amazing. I learned so much about the universe, life on earth, the population, etc. It provided me with a visual way to see the world, and since I am a visual learner, this book was able to teach me very easily. I would recommend this book for teachers to have in their classroom for kids to use their imagination in order to understand the world around them.
The illustrations are beautiful and enhance the learning experience. The only thing I can say is that I wanted a few more examples and explanation but that may be because I am 17 years old and this is geared for teaching children.

A unique book that shrinks down concepts that are hard to wrap your brain around to a familiar and smaller scale.

This book was helpful to me, even as an adult and I know I would have loved this book as a child. Besides putting large concepts on a smaller scale for comparison, seeing things on a smaller scale also helps us see the significance of everything we have. For example, "If all the water on Earth were represented by 100 glasses...97 of the glasses would be filled with salt water...3 of the glasses would contain fresh water. One of the glasses would represent all the fresh water available to us." With colorful and imaginative pictures, these concepts can be seen in a new and easily relateable way. If... explores concepts from the galaxy, to species diversity, to money distribution, energy usages and population dynamics. At the end there is also extra information about activities to build more things to scale. A great book for wondering minds.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.