Botanicum Activity Book

The Welcome to the Museum books are, without exception, quite superb. They really get to the heart of what museums are all about, bringing them to life for children. This is the companion book to Botanicum, and it's packed with yet more fascinating facts. The book is also full of puzzles and colouring activities which offer hours of entertainment to artists and nature lovers young and old. Beautiful and inspiring, the myriad activities in this book challenge the reader to discover something new and use their imagination to draw, decorate and design on every pull-out page - I am sitting here longing to get my pens out and to get colouring! Once all the activities are completed, the book will be one to treasure. * Parents in Touch *

If you loved Botanicum and who wouldn't, then this from the same team, is definitely for you: it's an activity book par excellence and is billed as 5+. However, as an early years teacher, I've seen 4 year olds do amazingly detailed observational drawings of plants, so I'd bring this down to 4+.
This one took me right back to my 'gap year' working as an assistant in the herbarium at Kew where I was awed by the work of the, then resident artist.
Back to this book, which has equally stunning illustrations and is probably best used alongside its 'parent' volume. There are pages of flowers and plants to colour; and those who would rather draw have several opportunities: there's a cycad tree with step-by-step visual instructions, ditto a pineapple fruit. Those who require a little guidance can complete algae patterns,draw mirror images of a buttercup half, three half leaves, add stem and foliage to four bulbs, for instance. For more confident drawing enthusiasts there are opportunities to create a cactus; complete a Carboniferous forest; add details to some leaves and create your own leaf , to name just some of the more open ended drawing activities.
Spot-the-difference enthusiasts will also be satisfied with the four pages each with ten differences allocated to that activity: this one's truly beautiful. (You can always cheat by looking at the reverse side if you can't find them all.)Should you want to test your botanical knowledge there are pages for that too including There's even a maze, which looks quite forbidding, but I managed to do it - eventually - without cheating.
With over 35 activities in all, this superb book offers hours of gently educational pleasure.

* Red Reading Hub *
'Botanicum' is back and this time Katie Scott & Kathy Willis have produced the most sublime activity book. Bursting with fascinating facts and puzzles, this book offers hours of entertainment to artists and nature lovers, young and old. Featuring a myriad of activities it challenges the reader to discover something new and use their imagination to draw, decorate and design. Like 'Botanicum' this divine celebration of plants features a colourful array of intricate and dazzling illustrations combined with comprehensive botanical knowledge. An absolute joy of an activity book. * Book Lover Jo *
Botanicmn is a beautiful activity book, that challenges the leader to draw, colour and design on every pull-out page. Perfect for parents and grandparents and their little ones. * Woman's Weekly *

Colouring, drawing, puzzles, facts and astonishing plants... the perfect combination for all budding artists and naturalists!
Following last year's publication of the incredible Botanicum, a super-sized book of stunning botanical delights, and the next best thing to stepping inside a real-life exhibition of plants, author Professor Kathy Willis and illustrator Katie Scott return with a beautiful companion activity book.
Bursting with fascinating facts and puzzles, this carefully crafted book, published by Big Picture Press in association with Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, offers hours of enjoyment to artists and nature lovers, young and old. The wide variety of activities, including mazes, spot the difference, matching crops to their names, colouring, doodling and drawing, challenge the reader to discover something new and use their imagination to draw, decorate and design on every pull-out page. The good quality paper and wonderfully intricate artwork ensure that this big, bold book is not just blooming with the most amazing plant life but can help to inspire a new generation of artists.

-- Pam Norfolk * Lancashire Evening Post *

Children and adults who enjoyed Botanicum (Welcome To The Museum) by Katie Scott and Kathy Willis are going to love the Botanicum Activity Book. Don't be misled by the suggestion that the book is aimed at the seven-plus age group: there's plenty in here for anyone who is still capable of holding a pen or pencil.
You could treat this as a standalone activity book but young and old will both get so much more out of the books if they're both available, the main book for reference and the activity book to put their knowledge into practice, to play with it a little and allow it to become part of them. Adults and children who enjoy colouring will enjoy the challenge of the cannonball flower, but my particular favourite in the colouring activities was the page of wild flowers. The result (even with my limited artistic skills) is good enough to frame - the page can be removed with a sharp knife - but the instruction Colour in the wild flowers needs careful exclusion from the end result. For those who like to draw rather than to colour there are opportunities to completes drawings (the mirror images of half leaves was most satisfying) and for those who are less certain of their drawing skills there are even examples showing you how to draw certain specimens. My cycan tree didn't turn out quite as I would have liked, but there's space for more tries.
As a child I loved 'Spot the Difference' puzzles and I regressed quite happily. There are several puzzles, each with ten differences to spot and I had a lot of fun. If you get stuck the answers are on the back of the puzzle page. There's a water-lily-leaf maze - and I'll admit to having looked up the answer when I got stuck on that once too often. Some pages are tests of knowledge - which plants grow in which part of the world for example. There's nothing too complex and - once again - the answers are there if you need them.
The book is top quality in terms of production values. The paper is substantial and there's no bleed through to the reverse of the page even with dark-coloured felt-tip pens. It travels well - there's a millboard backing which means that a table isn't always necessary. If you do have a table you'll find that the book opens reasonably flat - there none of the frustration of finding that the picture you're colouring disappears into the gutter between the pages and you can't actually get at it. The book's excellent value too. The cover price of £8.99 might seem high for an activity book, but there are 37 activities. Very few will engage just for minutes (even the spot-the-difference puzzles took me quite a while to complete and only one puzzle - the 'find the missing square' - was quickly obvious. Some of the colouring is going to take hours. This could give you peace on a long journey whilst it's being gently educational!

-- Sue Magee * Book Bag *

Botanicum Activity Book by Kate Scott and Kathy Willis: This activity book is inspired by Botanicum and is published in association with The Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. Published on sturdy paper it's a fantastic activity book for nature lovers and introduces children to many varieties of plant life. Activities include colouring in pages, spot the difference, matching and finish the drawings.
Favourite activities here were matching plants to the world regions that they are found, matching carnivorous plants to their prey, learning how to draw a pineapple and drawing the life cycle of a dandelion. The back of each page gives extra facts so that children can learn more in an informal way. This activity book makes learning about plants fun!

* Story Snug *