Nick Arnold is the author of the award winning series, Horrible Science and Wild Lives. Arnold's first published works appeared as a result of a project he was working on at the University of North London, when he was trying to teach young children. A positive review was written about him, and he started to write the "Horrible Science" books. His books are illustrated by Tony De Saulles.
A fantastic and gruesome insight into wildlife - 4.5*
Six Horrible Science books for £10. Thank you 'The Works' for a fabulous deal. I originally bought these books because who can pass up on that deal? Definitely not me. I'm too weak. All six are silver and shiny so hopefully it will further encourage my class to read...(I do try!)
With my current predicament, I saw this one with a big pink octopus and thought it would be perfect for my lesson. I'm not sure if I'll use any of it (and that's why this book lost 0.5* star) but it was very interesting and engaging the sections on underwater life. I'll think about if I'll use it. If I do, it might put a spanner into my current plans... Oh well.
Anyway, this actual book was fab. I was a huge fan of Horrible Histories as a child and currently own 20 of them so the whole setup of this book was fabulous. I've learned loads and I've laughed lots - a perfect learning experience.
Ik heb meerdere pagina's vluchtig gelezen. Informatiedichtheid is erg hoog. Als kind vond ik dat prachtig (en stiekem als volwassene ook) maar ik merkte dat ik enig opbouw mistte.
Volwassen-ik geeft dit 3 sterren. Kind-ik zou dit 5 sterren geven!
Nick is a wonderful author making otherwise uninteresting subject most interesting and enjoyable. This is a good way of inculcating interest in the children who are addicted to gadgets and games. Tony makes a good partner who could render wonderful pictures in tune with Nick's narration.
Another fun book in this series. Lots of information about animals and their dark little secrets haha! It is fun, also very educational, with quizzes and lots of comic style illustrations. Really recommended for a bit older kids and very old kids like me 😁
This is a fun and interesting book but, being a trained scientist, there are too many inaccuracies in it to keep me happy. It would have benefited from a consultant reader with science training.
Wonderful book for kids or adults. Don't be put off by those warnings that it's not for adults. Just as fun reading it now as I had when I first read it in primary school.
I was reading Nasty Nature with my 3rd and 4th graders and was enjoying it with them. There were interesting facts about animals presented in very creative ways - comics, narratives, faux newspaper columns, awards etc, I was really appreciating the way Mr. Arnold communicates science in a kid friendly way, which is why I was sharing this book with my class in the first place - and why I was so disturbed by a snippet we came across on page 132. We were reading along about vultures and the conservation efforts of John Ledger, director of the Endangered Wildlife Trust in South Africa. Mr. Arnold was detailing Ledger's "vulture restaurants" which were designed to provide an adequate food source for the threatened vulture population, when we came to this paragraph: "And once there was even a human on the menu. Devoted vulture lover Mickey Lindbergh shot himself in 1987 at a vulture restaurant. His last acton Earth was to make sure his beloved vultures got fed. On his own dead body!" I was shocked to find such a cavalier and trivial reference to SUICIDE in a children's book! Does Mr. Arnold really think suicide is appropriate to joke about in children's literature? How many kids have read this and tacitly assumed that suicide is ok as long as it's in the name of animal conservation? Needless to say, my copy of this book is in the trash - too bad too because most of what Mr. Arnold presented was appealing and informative to the science-minded child. I'm just not willing to expose my students to his trivial presentation of such a serious issue in a book which is supposed to be kid-friendly.
I know about the nature cycle. It is what everything eats, and what it eats and what it eats ad what it eats and bears get eaten by something and so do the things that eat that and the things that eat that and the things that eat that and the things that eat that, and that's the end of the nature cycle, also known as the food chain. There's another way of the nature cycle - but it's pretty complicated, so if you want you can skip this bit. I learned about parrots (but not how they talk). Dogs really are barkers and eaters. They eat grass and suck on pine cones and chickens eat anything except avocados. This book was mainly about the food chain and I recommend this book to biologists and pretty much anybody would like this book.
I thought it was good, but the illustration was really weird and some pages didn't make any sense There was no favourite character because every page had a different character and i never got to see if any were the best overall, i'm ok with this book but its a little weird when you actually think of it. i don't really recommend this book because it doesn't really make too much sence but if you're ok with weird books then this is the book for you
This book was quite fun for me because I love animals. That's one thing I have learned about Horrible Science books, they are only good if you are interested in the topic. If you like to learn in a fun way, then this is a good book to read. It won't take you long to read and stays interesting with the different chapters.
I thought it was very funny and it had very useful information like how to survive a tiger, how to speak gorilla and where to find animals. It made me gasp at the facts about the cute and cuddly and the well... not so cute and cuddly animals all the way from albatross to killer whale to tapir to zebra.
Although this book may seem gruesome (and it is), it really has very interesting facts - if you can handle them. The accompanying pictures also help to carry the message across with its humor. A must read in my opinion (especially for those who love science. or want to find out animal facts that will gross others out - like the fact that there are frogs that live in toilets.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
It is filled with interesting and 'gross' facts, with a large dollop of humour, to keep young children reading. It also helps that there are numerous comic strip illustrations throughout and the text is a little larger than the average paperback. Would definitely recommend to any budding scientists or those keen on natural history.
I thought it was just another interesting book in the series but it surprised me to find that this was my favourite book in the series! I haven't finished the whole series yet and when I do finish my set, new ones are probably already out but this is by far the one that interests me the most! The facts are so relevant to my interests and information is adequate for my brain to digest and enjoy.