My First Book of Evolution

All life adapts to its surroundings. Fish use their gills to breathe underwater, and are the ideal shape for moving through it. The desert cactus can store large amounts of water to withstand long periods of drought. Evolution means that something changes and transforms over time to suit its environment and be able to thrive within it.

Featuring chapters on natural selection, Charles Darwin, heredity, genetic variability and speciation, this is quite a deep dive on the subject of evolution. Eduard Altarriba’s illustrations are gorgeous and their vibrant graphic style, plenty of diagrams, and helpful layouts help to make the material more digestible.

Sheddad Kaid-Salah Ferron and Altarriba take the reader through Darwin’s original theory and then look at how evolution has been influenced by human intervention in artificial selection, using the example of animal breeding. They also look ahead to the future of humanity and what influence technology might have on our bodies, minds and lives over the next thousands of years.

As with the other books in this series, there is some rather advanced information contained in My First Book of Evolution, despite the fact that it’s a picture book - meaning that it is best suited to older primary aged children.

* BookTrust *

Like all good nonfiction books, the reader is presented with information as if they are the ones discovering it and not being told it by someone else. It’s a personal journey of discovery which is about as intimate as learning can get. For those children with an interest in this subject you won’t find another book that goes into this level of detail for this age group.

...this book is the kind of book which fits well into a school library or classroom. It would also be a perfect addition to a teacher’s toolkit of reference texts for planning. ...Readers will feel like experts after working their way through each chapter. This might not just be a child’s first book about evolution, it might be their only book too.

* Just Imagine *

Showing more originality and wit than is common in graphic non-fiction illustrations.

* Nicolette Jones (Sunday Times Children's Books editor) *

Written by Sheddad Kaid-Salah Ferrón with appealing images created by Eduard Altarriba, My First Book of Evolution is an extremely clever distillation of the history of life on this planet. Questions are answered clearly and terminology is well explained. This wonderful publication would also make an excellent STEM book for schools.

* The Scotsman on Sunday *

A brilliant introduction into how evolution works with a range of eye catching graphics and visuals.

* @father_teacher_reader *

Exciting and accessible, this is a great starter book for budding scientists at home or school, as well as adults who may not have learned about the topic previously.

* Red Reading Hub *

The graphics are excellent and the colour coding subtle but helpful and this is the work of Altarriba which shows just why he won an award for his work on My first book of Quantum Physics. Although under 50 pages this hardback pulls a lot in and is definitively worth the investment and may get some enquiring minds interested in biology.

* Happy Families blog *

The title is slightly misleading on this and doesn't give justice to the depth contained in such an unsuspecting book. With the authors familiar flair for science communication, comes a celebration of life on Earth and how this has adapted and evolved over time. Far from being an ode to dinosaurs (although of course they get a nod), this delves into the depths of biology. Expect to find cell anatomy, explanation of the process behind genetic inheritance and genetic mutation, as well as the consequences of these. It definitely brought me back to my student days!

* @mini.midnight.rea