Little, Brown Nut: with a giant fold-out map

By Author / Illustrator

Mary Auld, Dawn Cooper

Genre

Non Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Mama Makes Books

ISBN

9781739774882

Format

Hardback

Published

01-11-2023

Synopsis

Start Small, Think Big is a series that sets young readers on a journey of discovery, beginning from the small and familiar to new areas of knowledge where they really have to think big!

Little Brown Nut starts small, with a large, weighty fruit falling from the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest. Inside is a little brown Brazil nut, surrounded by 19 others. It sits and waits for an agouti, a rodent with teeth so strong that it can free the nut from its hard casing. The story of the Brazil nut tree and the agouti is told clearly and carefully, with facts about germination, photosynthesis, seed dispersal. The narrative progresses in a way that builds understanding and the gorgeous illustrations bring the story and the science to life.

Thinking BIG, the book shows why the rainforest is important to local people and the wider world. A big fold-out has a world map, an at-a-glance lifecycle, and a Rainforest I-Spy of the animals to take children back into the book. Other books in the series include Small, Speckled Egg.

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Reviews

Little Brown Nut is the newest addition to the series, 'Start Small, Think Big', by Mary Auld. This non-fiction book takes on the story of a nut falling from a brazil nut tree and follows the journey it takes, from meeting a wide variety of animals on the forest floor and the journey a buried nut will take until meeting humans, and how we use the nuts gathered.

The book is beautifully laid out and full of facts; I especially loved the illustrations by Dawn Cooper which bring the words to life. I really enjoyed that the story follows a nut, a familiar object, all the way through its various journeys and cycle of life.

Each book also comes with a giant fold out map, bringing the story together in poster form and in a simple, easy-to-follow guide. I haven't seen a non-fiction book like this before and I think these are really special and a great addition to the bookshelf. I honestly can't wait to share these books with my class and use these across a series of different lessons, from Science and Understanding the World through to English lessons and looking at different text types. I am looking forward to seeing more of these.

28 pages / Reviewed by Lauren Maidman, teacher