The Tree of Life: The Wonders of Evolution

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book on evolution for young children!
Review: "Tree of Life" is a educational storybook, which tells the story of biological evolution from before the first form of life appeared, to the appearance of the first humans, and all in words even a preschooler can understand. My three year old only had a few questions the first time I read it, and it is now one of his favorites. The large, beautiful purple and white illustrations also make it as enjoyable to look at as it is to read.

Rating:
Summary: Finally a secular origin of life book! Perhaps too abstract.
Review: Because there are so few books on evolution out there that are really aimed at young children, I think it is definitely worth having, but I thought it had a few shortcomings. The first few pages really read like a book for toddlers, but then it gets more advanced (preschool to early elementary), this caused it to not really flow well for me, this is simply a stylistic matter and not really a problem with the content though. It starts at the beginning, not before the planet existed, but before there was any life on it. It goes about 18 pages getting through the first not quite alive thing that could make copies of itself, but sometimes, rarely, the copy wasn't exact. Then in one page jumps through the millions of years to when "many new kinds of aliveness appeared in the world". The rest of it is very VERY general, and simplified. Personally I found it oversimplified, and found the first half of the book to be out of balance with the second half. There are so few books on evolution out there aimed at young children. It is nice to have something. The cover of the book has a very colorful picture on it, but inside the illustrations are all purple and white. I think simpler, full color illustrations inside would be more suited to a book aimed at children this age. This is the author's note: "During a recent trip to the library, I noticed that, while there were many books retelling biblical creation stories, there were relatively few books on evolution for younger children. Those books that attempted to explain evolution did so in a way that, though scientifically accurate, conveyed none of the wonder and excitement of this concept. The Tree Of Life is my attempt to help young children understand the beauty and power of this great idea. Obviously, a book for young children on this topic must leave out some complex details (for instance, the role of sexual selection as one of the driving mechanisms of evolution). The illustrations, also, must necessarily be somewhat abstract and suggestive rather than literal. Nevertheless, great care has been taken to maintain accuracy throughout, although some of the ideas have been simplified for this audience." I guess I just feel that it was more abstract and simplified than I would have liked. It is a decent book to have around, particularly when used with other books. I didn't like it nearly as much as How Whales Walked Into the Sea by Faith McNulty, but she had a much easier job of only focusing on one animal, not introducing the idea of evolution from nothing alive to the myriad of life forms we have today. If you are an aspiring children's book author or illustrator, this is a subject that could really use a lot more attention. Start working!