Woolly Mammoth Paperback – 2 July 2015

Excellent - Bought for a 4 year old who is really in to all of this. He is thoroughly enjoying it and shows it to pals and visitors. A really good purchase, interesting, well written and exciting. And they like it at school!

My year three class lived this book, they used it for independent research.Good delivery times.

A great book for young children to learn about mammoths and the ice age (also have a similar book by Aliki, great facts but a bit more grown-up, so probably better for older ones), lovely rhyming language and "optional" factual extras written down the side of each page. Beautiful illustrations.

The Ice Age is a fascinating time, but do you think that dinosaurs still roamed the Earth alongside both man and mammoths? Ray Harryhausen has a lot to answer for and the earlier that someone learns that man and dinosaurs did not walk the land together, the better. Plus everyone knows that Woolly Mammoths are almost as cool as T-Rex – who doesn’t love a hairy elephant?‘‘Woolly Mammoth’’ is one of a series of ‘‘Natural History Museum’’ books that aim to introduce children to some of the fascinating aspects of our world’s past. In this case we follow the life cycle of a group of Mammoths, how they feed, fight and sleep. We also get a glimpse into man during the period and how they hunted these giant beasts, but made sure that they used all the body for good.It can be difficult to pitch a fact based book to a child; too much information will alienate the younger children whilst simplification will make it dull for an older kid. Mick Manning has come up with a great idea that caters for both audiences within the same book. The central image of each two page spread is a picture and a rhyming story that you would find in a typical book for 3-5 year olds, but there is also a series of factoids on the edge of each page to intrigue a 6-10 year old. Added to this, a toddler can have great fun just looking at Brita Granstrom’s colourful and inviting images. You can possibly cover all three children in one book – a rare occurrence.The reason that this works in ‘‘Woolly Mammoth’’ is that it concentrates on one type of animal and tells a traditional story, but with historical accuracy on its side. Some of the other books in the series, such as  , cover too many aspects and lose the simple story thread that draws in a toddler.With ‘‘Woolly Mammoth’’ doing a great job combining a fiction like story with non-fiction facts it is only some of Granstrom’s illustrations that let the side down. They drift slightly too much into the fiction side of things. Whilst the book tells a story, it is kept historically accurate throughout. Did Mammoths really smile? This type of detail is at odds with the tone of the rest of the book.If you are entertaining a couple of children with 2 or 3 year age gap, ‘‘Woolly Mammoth’’ is a perfect book to take on a car journey. There is something on offer that will entertain a child from 12 months – 10 years. If one them is bored by the pictures, they will love the facts. The book also works because it does not fail to educate as well as entertain; you learn a lot about the Woolly Mammoth and how man lived alongside them – and no dinosaur vs mammoth fights anywhere to be seen. Original review on bookbag.co.uk

This is an informative and fun read on a pre-historic animal. It wasn't a requested book, the illustrations weren't entirely my style and it's not my most favourite animal but I'm reviewing it because I know it will appeal to many children, and also older readers who want an uncomplicated explanation of facts behind this ancestor of modern day elephants. I dimly recall investigating woolly mammoths for one of my first pieces of work at secondary school - it didn't go too well as initially I resisted listening to my family on how to present it. I can't remember what happened when I handed it in! This book would have saved me back then.I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review on my blog Nayu's Reading Corner http://nayusreadingcorner.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/woolly-mammoth-by-nick-manning-and.html