Secret Science by Dara O'Briain Children's Book Review Age 9+ (Sent for Review)

Secret Science: The Amazing World Beyond Your Eyes is a new release from Scholastic Books. Written by Stand-up Comedian, Mathematician and Scientist Dara O'Briain, it's like taking a foray through his head as he goes about his every day life, and if you know him from TV like I do, you'll read it entirely in his voice.

Subtitled The Amazing World Beyond Your Eyes, in this book we don't see the world as we would normally, we are shown the science behind everything we take for granted, from sleeping to flying to building sandcastle, and it is fascinating.

Simple Science is full of interesting illustrations by Dan Bramhall and they work perfectly. The whole package is incredibly funny and witty, with plenty of dry humour, but this is also an intelligent book.

Science is presented in a matter of fact, commentary-style and if you speak to my kids I'm sure they'll tell you this is my favourite way to teach them. Random facts and explanations whenever they ask or it occurs to me. Dara doesn't have to stop to Google as he goes though...

Secret Science is written in really easy to read conversational language and has a great flow, like a rambling ivy sprawling across a building. At times you can feel the author's excitement, and passion in what he is saying has the effect of making you sit up and pay attention. This book has reminded me of so many things I have started to take for granted, and it's taught me loads.

I feel like I spent 2 hours sitting with the most enthusiastic personal tutor ever, and all in language an 8 year old can understand. I wanted to run home and relate the entire conversation to my kids...luckily I was home, so I just passed this book to the nearest child and said "That's ace, read that science boy".

At the back of the book are lots of lined pages for Scientific Notes. Any scientist or fact-loving reader might have plenty of notes for things they want to remember or theories they want to test after reading this book.

A fantastic book for anyone, but ideal for reluctant readers as it starts by telling you its okay to skip bits, and giving a rundown of some of the amazing and interesting facts and explanations you might miss.

There are loads of illustrations, different fonts for highlights and text is broken into nice chunks. If your child enjoys comic strips and science or facts, they'll definitely love this book. Suggested age range is 9+, but younger confident readers with an interest in science will be able to enjoy it too.

Secret Science: The Amazing World Beyond Your Eyes is written by Dara O'Briain with Sally Morgan and illustrated by Dan Bramhall. Small format with around 174 pages plus 20 pages for Scientific Notes, it's a brilliant read and has much to offer a young reader.

Published by Scholastic and available at all good book shops and in the scholastic catalogue. Hardback £12.99rrp . Paperback £6.99rrp Also available online, including direct from the Scholastic Books website, where the paperback is currently reduced to £4.99

We were sent our copy of Secret Science By Dara O'Briain for review.