One Wonderful World

by Jennie Maizels

Are you sitting comfortably with your seatbelts fastened? Then we are ready for take-off. Meet Earthworm and Airplane, your hosts, who will take you on a round-the-world journey (and maybe even into the solar system!) With the colourful and inventive paper-engineering that was used to explain the international languages of multiplication and music, the author and illustrator team, Maizels and Petty, have decided that it is time to get to grips with Geography, and their book helps you to discover that it is indeed a wonderful world! Their trademark enthusiasm helps to explain the mysteries of oceans, continents, mountains, rivers, countries and their inhabitants. An entertaining and absorbing read with ingenious pop-ups and moving parts, this book will launch you into the real world.

Genres: Geography, Young Adult, Picture Books

14 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2000

About the author

Jennie Maizels is the author-illustrator of numerous books for children, including Jennie Maizels' Things to Do Book. She lives in England.

Reviews

[Carolyn Giangrasso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up, informational children’s books were nothing like they are today. The Amazing Pop-Up Geography Book is written by Kate Petty and illustrated by Jennie Maizels. It gives readers a different experience in exploring the world. It is packed with information about mountains, volcanoes, continents, countries, and so much more. The pop-up illustrations that include many facts about the earth will engage kids in learning. The author and illustrating duo have many other pop-up information books on topics like grammar and music.
The cartoon style art and vibrant colors make a difficult topic more fun and easier to understand. Throughout the book the author use humor to keep young audiences attention. For example, the page about the sun-earth relationship is set in space and has a little alien with a quote bubble saying “I feel sick.” It is silly, fun components like these that make kids forget they are learning. The illustrator also give the cartoon planets faces, personifying them and having them say “We’re made of rock!” The shape of the book also adds to the overall aesthetic of the book. A horizontal rectangle shape is good for communicating movement in a story. This book however does not have movement in the conventional sense, but rather movement across countries and around the globe. I loved this book and all the different ways readers can interact with it. I wish they had more books like these when I was younger!

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite many of the facts now being outdated, this is still a fascinating introduction to our planet and our solar system, with lots of interactive elements such as pop-up pictures, moving parts, flaps to lift and quiz questions. A whole lot of fun!

[Kara Immel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my favorites and was listed as one of the National Council for Social Studies favorite trade books as well. A wide variety of topics from earthquakes to storms to why the earth rotates. It has GREAT illustrations that make Geography come to life for students.