It’s a book that kids will enjoy and have lots of fun while they learn. Each story and article covers only a page which is just right for children who read in the grab and run style. The bookworm types will like the wide range of the stories and ‘About Things’ snippets. The science-oriented sections offer very practical ways to grow plants of all types, in all kinds of places, all the year round. ‘Special Times’ has a list of party stories and games; descriptions of how to make Easter eggs and Christmas presents, and a page on what to do in bed if you’re sick, but not too sick.

The illustrations are superb and often tell the story on their own, which is very helpful to slower readers.

For children who fear books, or who are reluctant readers, this is a Linus-blanket of a book. No sensible parent, teacher, or librarian should neglect to add this book to the arsenal arrayed against the T.V. moguls: It makes the The Flintstones look like a pea and ham packet soup smirking nervously beside a bowl of exquisitely fermented Bouillabase.

Alive and Aware is a storehouse of informative insights. It is mostly suitable for children. in the upper Primary and lower Secondary levels.

A wide range of the sensory skills and characteristics of members of the animal kingdom is explored. Constantly explained comparisons help to show how human sensory equipment matches up to the very sophisticated hardware possessed by other animals. We don’t come out as startling achievers very often. A glossary is included and it is a useful explanation of parts of the text. However, the index may as well be torn out and thrown into the waste paper basket – it’s worse than a mess. I couldn’t find a single index reference that was accurate. I must admit that I lost patience and gave up after seventy tries. References were even made to pages which do not appear in the text – pages one to six. There appeared to be no pattern to the whole chaos, so I have no helpful suggestions to make to the reader.

The illustrations are just right for the book, and they balance the text well. Two little space people make their appearance from time to time, and make valiant efforts at light relief. As nearly half of the book concentrated on the sense of sight and the place of color, more use of color in the drawings could have enhanced the impact of the book.

Eleanor Stodart has an easy, fluent style which is memorable and which makes for absorbing reading. The book will add quite a deal to the knowledge children have of the sensory world, but please, writer and publisher, fix that index up!