Top critical review
2.0 out of 5 starsI'm not a fan of the "Facts Simply Explained" Series and this is no exception
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2019
I'm a big fan of DK books in general, and I particularly love their "The Book" series (Big Ideas Simply Explained). Books like "The Economics Book", "The Psychology Book", "The Philosophy Book" etc are wonderful with gorgeous illustrations, great layout, and well-written, easy-to-understand text that's basically the equivalent of a college course.
Sadly, after reading several book in the "Facts Simply Explained" series I have to conclude that it's forgettable rubbish. You might think that's because it's for Grade School instead of College, but you'd be wrong.
For starters, the layout is harder to view and the text is harder to read and understand, despite the fact that there is LESS of it. These books are just plain poorly written compared to their big brother series. Then you have the poor paper quality that's a poorer contrast and harder on the eyes (looks like cheap recycled paper). In addition you have poorer illustrations in ugly colors with hard-to-understand graphs. Ugh.
I thought this book would be a list of everything wrong with the planet in easy-to-understand sections but instead it's kind of the kitchen sink without a whole lot of focus on what exactly is WRONG with what humans are doing on the planet. So yes, there's a lot of information, but it feels like a lot of it is irrelevant, and graphs and charts are over-used when a few large illustrations with key facts would have worked far more effectively.
This book has an important message but it feels like it's buried under poor presentation, which makes me sad. If a pro book reviewer who owns a ton of DK books like me can't wade his way through this slog, what chance does the average grade schooler have?
I'm hoping The Ecology Book does a better job on this subject than this book. So once again, AVOID this book series, and read DK's "Big Ideas" series instead.