How to Change the World with a Ball of String product reviews

This book gets top marks from me: How to change the world with a ball of string...what a fascinating and captivating title, complete with a simple cover, the book title words attached to string. Interesting. The book is $21.00 and seems worth it for the amount of information contained within its pages. Its a fact driven book of sorts, perhaps a little confusing for the younger readers who may easily get lost, as unlike other books it does seem a little bit over the play with how it is put together. But for accomplished and inquisitive readers it is perfect!

There is so much to be learnt within the pages of this book. and so much fun to be had also. You can pick up the book and flick to any page you want and begin reading without loosing anything. And best of all you are learning what are sometimes boring history facts, in a really unique and interesting way. Even the art work is eye catching and interesting. It is full of facts, activities and lots of cool stuff (as put by my 11yo son)...one of these cool things was the how to mummify your cat, this intrigued my son who thought it was a really funny thing to have in the book (possibly his favorite part), thank fully the 'important parts' lol were blacked out.

This really is a great book that I think would be enjoyed by boys and girls of all ages. I think it will be a handy project/assignment resource for my kids too. A great learning resource without them being fully aware that is what is happening. I love books like that, as often when we think we are learning the content can easily become dull and boring, but not with this book! Definitely worth a flick through if not a complete read.

This book is really nicely presented with thick glossy pages, and a soft cover. Its quite a large book, which is great for sharing. The cover is really wordy, but the colour is inviting and I liked all the little illustrations on it.

Inside the book the illustrations are a mix of real artworks, photos of people or models and computer paintings. Each page is really colourful. Full colour background, words laid out and easy to read despite the background colour. There are lists and extra information littered through the page too. I liked how sometimes a word is circled and a little note expands the meaning.

Reading through the information reminded me a lot of the Horrible Histories books. The book doesn't just focus on the glorious bits of history. It looks at some of the funny things about famous people, the mistakes made too. It has some activities you can do/or not do. Mummifying a cat for example, something you really can't do! But making codes out of wool or drawing things, all good.

Another thing that caught my attention was that Cooke doesn't use BC or AD when talking about time. Instead he uses common era which starts at year 0. I thought this was interesting because many history books you are exposed to use Christ as a marker. Its not wrong, just a different way to deal with time.

I loved this book. You could easily read and read and read and find new things all the time. You can start reading it at any point without losing something in the meaning. Its full of fun historical facts, and would suit boys or girls who like history. If you have been a fan of the Horrible History's series, I think this would grab you too.