This book belongs to:

Project Editor James Mitchem

Senior Designer Lisa Robb
Edited by Sophia Danielsson-Waters, Hélène Hilton, Violet Peto
Designed by Charlotte Milner, Hannah Moore, Claire Patané,
Samantha Richiardi, Sadie Thomas
Design Assistance Eleanor Bates, Rachael Hare
Fact Checker Gill Pitts
Pre-Production Producer Dragana Puvacic
Senior Producer Isabell Schart
Jacket Designer Charlotte Milner
Jacket Co-ordinator Francesca Young
Creative Technical Support Sonia Charbonnier
Managing Editor Penny Smith
Managing Art Editor Gemma Glover
Publisher Mary Ling
Art Director Jane Bull

First published in Great Britain in 2016 by

Dorling Kindersley Limited
80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL

Copyright © 2016 Dorling Kindersley Limited

A Penguin Random House Company
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001–284732–Sept/2016

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or
introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the
prior written permission of the copyright owner.

A CIP catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-0-2412-2493-9

Printed in China

A WORLD OF IDEAS:
SEE ALL THERE IS TO KNOW

www.dk.com
My EncyclopediÐ of

Very
IMPORTANT
THINGS
Contents
Very important things Very important things
about my planet about places
10 Our place in space 42 I can count 7 continents
12 Our Earth 44 Postcards from North America
14 Which way is space? 46 Postcards from South America
16 The sky at night 48 Postcards from Africa
18 Under the waves 50 Postcards from Europe
20 Mountains 52 Postcards from Asia
22 Very fiery volcanoes 54 Postcards from Australia
24 Shake and quake 56 Postcards from Antarctica
26 Dry as a desert
28 Rainforests
30 Wonderful water
32 How does it grow?
34 The changing seasons
36 Extreme weather
38 The Wind and the Sun
 Very important things
about animals
60 What are animals? 82 I spy… on the farm
62 Dinosaurs once ruled the Earth 84 I spy… in the mountains
64 Mighty mam mals 86 Desert animals
66 Fabulous fish 88 I spy… on the African plains
68 Beautiful birds 90 The very big blue whale
70 Scaly reptiles 92 Super sharks
72 Awesome amphibians 94 Primate party
74 Brilliant bugs 96 Speedy species
76 Caterpillar to butterfly 98 Big cats
78 Animal habitats 100 Animals after dark
80 Pole to pole 102 The tortoise and the hare
 Very important things Very important things
about people about me
106 Very early humans 146 The human body
108 Early discoveries 148 My blood
110 The time of the pharaohs 150 Sense-ational
112 Ancient China 152 My brain
114 Aborigines 154 Sleep time
116 Really modern Romans 156 Good food
118 Viking raiders 158 Let’s communicate
120 Ancient Americans 160 Marvellous music
122 Native Americans 162 Amazing art
124 Festivals and celebrations 164 Getting better
126 Eager explorers 166 Purr-fect pets
128 Important inventors 168 Fun numbers
130 Super scientists 170 What’s the time?
132 Travel by land 172 The ant and the grasshopper
134 Travel by water
136 Travel by air
138 Totally tall towers
140 I want to be an astronaut!
142 Flying to the Moon
 Here are some other
very important things
176 Saying hello and goodbye 198 Cool clouds
178 Glorious colours 200 Musical instruments
180 Super shapes 202 Working vehicles
182 Fantastic fruit 204 Beetle box
184 Vibrant veggies 206 Discover dinosaurs
186 Let’s count 208 Extraordinary eggs
188 Let’s multiply 210 Animal babies
190 Measurements 212 Fantastic flags
192 Star signs 214 Top 10: Countries
194 Chinese horoscopes 216 Top 10: World
196 Precious gems 218 Top 10: Animals

220 Index
224 Acknowledgements
Very important things about
my planet

Earth is our amazing home. It’s covered with

lush forests, dry deserts, and big blue oceans
(so big that Earth looks blue from space.) Earth
is the only planet that we know of where things
can live, so it’s a very special place!

9
 Our place Huge rocks
float between Mars
and Jupiter in an

in space area called the

asteroid belt.

Our planet (Earth) is in a group with

seven other planets. This group is
called the Solar System.
e

er
e h
What are planets? W e liv
Planets are big round objects in
space. Some are made of
rock, and the others are
big balls of gas. Most
of them orbit (travel
around) a star.
The Earth
Sun Mercury
The Sun is a star.
Without its heat, Mars
no plants, animals,
or people could
survive on Earth. Venus
That includes you!
Sun Mercury Saturn
The Solar System is so big even Earth
the planets that seem close to
each other are VERY far apart. Mars
Venus Jupiter

10
 Neptune
of Saturn are made
s
ring a nd DUST.
e
Th of IC
E
Uranus
Uranus is different
to the other planets,
because it spins
on its side.

It wo
to re uld take
ac ye
the S h the ed ars
olar ge
Syst of
em.
Saturn
u n.
e S
t h
n d
n ets SPIN as t hey m ove arou
a
pl
t he

As far as we know,
Earth is the only
All

planet anywhere
where things live.

Jupiter

Neptune

Uranus

11
 Our Earth The Earth takes a whole
year to orbit (move
around) the Sun once.

Earth is our planet. Most of

it is covered by oceans. The rest
of the planet’s surface is land.

When the side of the

Earth you live on faces Equator
the Sun, it’s daytime.

Where does the

Sun go at night?
The Earth is always
spinning. As it does,
the Sun shines on
different parts of
the planet. This
is why we have
days and nights.

n.
s pi
Th ne
e E o
a rt h m a ke
takes 24 hours t o

The equator is an imaginary

line around the middle When the side of
of the Earth. Think of it the Earth you live on
like the Earth is wearing turns away from the
an invisible belt! Sun, it’s night-time.
12
Inside the Earth
T
There are three layers under 4.5 b he E
the Earth’s outer layer ill art
ion h
(crust), but it’s too
ye is
hot for us to ar
s
go there.

ol
d!
Ma
ntl
e

O ut
er
cor
e
In
n
cor e r
e

The crust
makes up
all the land
and the sea floor.

What’s inside?
The mantle is almost solid rock, the outer If the Earth were
an apple, the crust
core is liquid metals and minerals, and the would only be as
inner core is solid metals and minerals. thick as the skin.
14
Which way is space?
If you could drive a car straight up, it would only take about
an hour to reach space. On the way you’d pass through five
layers of air called the atmosphere.
Satellite
The top layer of the atmosphere
Satellites orbit the
doesn’t end suddenly. It fades Earth all the way
gradually farther into space. up here. They send
signals to the world.

Exosphere
Scientists say space starts here.
You can see the
This layer goes up really, REALLY high colourful aurora light
above the Earth. show from places
near the North or
South Poles.
International The Space Station Auroras
is so big you can
Space Station sometimes see it
from the ground.

Thermosphere
 Brr! The air up here is freezing cold.
The top of the mesosphere is the Meteors
coldest place in the world.

Nacreous clouds

Mesosphere
These beautiful clouds
are very rare.
This area is home to the
ozone layer, which helps
Jet planes fly protect us from the Sun’s rays.
above the clouds
to avoid bumps
caused by wind. Rüppell’s vulture can fly
Aeroplane higher than any other bird.

Stratosphere
This is the lowest part of the
Hot air
atmosphere. All weather
balloon
happens in this bottom layer.

Troposphere
15
 T he sky
Astronauts can stay at the

at night International Space Station

while they are in space.

you lo ok up o n a clear
If
y ca n b e full
e sk
evening, th t not
The Moon
ts. Bu
n kl in g ligh There’s nothing in the night sky
of tw i
e sta rs. that’s easier to spot than the Moon.
h es e ar
t Astronauts have walked on the
all of
Moon. Their footprints will stay
there for millions of years because
s only visible b
n i g ht f ro eca there is no wind or weather there.
o l i m the us
M o cts
le
e
The

Su
it
f
re

n.

Phases of the Moon

Have you ever wondered why
the Moon seems to change
New Moon Waxing First Waxing
shape? It’s because the Sun’s crescent quarter gibbous
light hits the Moon at different
angles as it moves around
Earth. There are 8 main phases.
Full Moon Waning Last Waning
gibbous quarter crescent

16
 Aircraft

Satellite

Meteor Comet

Star

Planet

Eye to the sky

Moon Telescopes help us to see
Here the Moon is in objects that are very far
the second phase away, such as planets.
(waxing crescent).

Searchlights
 18
Under the waves
From the surface to the sea floor, the oceans are packed Lots of fish and
other sea creatures
with life. We separate the ocean into four zones. are very colourful.

Let’s go diving and learn about each one.

Look at the colours! Most sea creatures

live near the surface because they need

Sunlit zone
light and warmth from the Sun.
Jellyfish
Seahorse

Brrr! Deeper down

it gets colder and
darker. Plants don’t
grow here because there
isn’t enough sunlight. W hale

Giant sperm whales dive deep

for food, then swim all the way
up to the surface to breathe!

Twilight zone
 Going deeper still, there
are even fewer animals.
Those that do live here
are specially adapted
for the cold and the dark. Dumbo octopus

The only way people

can travel here is in
special submarines.

Angler
I have a spine on my head

Midnight zone
Gulper eel which I light up to lure prey. fish
Then I munch them with
my terrifying teeth!

The deepest parts of the Ocean

are so dark and hard to reach that

zone
even the smartest scientists don’t

Hadal
know very much about them!

19
 ains
ou nt IGHTY
M M
u p from th e gr ou nd,
. The giant peaks
its.
Shoot
in g
o the s ky
s u m m
n s rise int
se ve n Mountain animals
ta i h e
moun e c a lled t have adapted to

n h e re ar life very high up.

show

3
Denali
I’m of f to th e su mm it!
Th at ’s wh at we ca ll th e
(North A merica) to p of a mo un ta in.
This giant mountain used to be
called Mount McKinley.

6
Vinson Massif
(Antarctica) There are huge
mountains under
the sea, too.

W hat makes mountains?

Over millions of years, the plates (sections)
that make up the Earth’s crust crash into
Plates start
each other, pushing the ground upwards. to push together.

20
 Awe
In
som
195 e adv
Ten 3S
i n e the VIEW from peo
zing
N
i r E dmu entu
nd H rer
g up h orga
Ima ere ple
to r y bec illar
y an s
1
Everest
! eac
h Ev
ame
eres the firs
t’s s
umm
t
d

it.
(Asia)

2
Aconcagua
(South America)
4
5
Elbrus
Kilimanjaro
(Africa) This isn’t just a
mountain – it’s

(Europe)
This mountain
7
Kosciuszko
a volcano too!

is found in Russia.
(Australia)

er a long, long time, mountains rise up!

The plates keep Aft
pushing, which
make folds in
the Earth.

21
 Very
volca fier
no y
e
Volcanoes are mountains with a fiery
s
surprise inside. When it’s eruption
time, red hot lava bursts out, creating
a breathtaking (but dangerous) sight.

22
 Eruptions

ery,
throw ash

v and dust

is t.
high into
the air.

va ho
La ERY
V
Eruptions What is lava?
Volcanoes can go years Lava is fiery melted rock from
and years without erupting. deep within the Earth that has burst
We call these volcanoes out from inside a volcano. It’s so hot
dormant. Others are it destroys everything in its path.
erupting all the time!

Lava travels
downhill for
a long way
before it
hardens
and cools.

Most volcanoes are

actually found under
the sea. When they
Giant rock thrown erupt, the lava can build
from a volcano. up and form islands.
23
 Shake and quake
Earthquakes are the rumbling and shaking
of the Earth. Most of the time they are harmless,
but sometimes they are very destructive and dangerous.

Puzzle planet
The Earth might seem like one
huge rock, but it’s actually
made up of moving pieces
called plates that connect
together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Plate

Richter scale Low (1)

Earthquakes are measured
on something called the Weak earthquakes
happen all the time,
“Richter scale”. The higher but most are too
small for people
the number, the more to notice them.
powerful the earthquake is.

24
What’s the cause? lates all fit
s p
When Earth’s plates rub
r t h’ tog
Ea eth
together the pressure can er
cause an earthquake and ,

bu
shake the land above.

t
con
stan
tly m ove very s
Earthquakes that
happen at sea can
cause tsunamis
(giant waves).

lig ht
ly…
Earth’s plates crashing
together is also what creates
mountains and volcanoes.

Medium (4) High (9)

Strong earthquakes can
knock over trees and buildings,
and can be very dangerous.

25
 Dry as a desert
Deserts are very dry places that don’t get much rain.
Without water, life can be very TOUGH.

Hot deserts
Not much can grow in Deserts aren’t easy place for people to
deserts because there’s so go to. In places like the Sahara in Africa,
little water, but cacti are
plants that are specially they have to put up with sandstorms,
adapted to survive there. extreme heat, and a lack of food and water.

There are deserts all over the world,

The Atacama in South A lot of Australia is covered in

America is so dry, some a desert called the Outback.
parts haven’t had rain in
millions of years.

26
Optical illusions
An oasis is a place in a desert where water
is found. They’re very rare and sometimes
they’re not even real! They can be an illusion
created by the light called a mirage.

Brrr! Not all deserts

A penguin? are hot. Antarctica is
Is that a mirage
as well?
a HUGE desert, and
it’s absolutely
FREEZING.

and on every continent except EUROPE.

The Mojave in the USA is home to Antarctica is the world’s

Death Valley. It doesn’t have a largest cold desert.
nice name because it’s not a nice There’s lots of ice but
place to be – it’s really, REALLY hot. very little rain or snow.
 Rainforests
Also known as jungles, rainforests are dark, thick
Rainforests can have lots
forests full of plants and animals. Those animals of heavy thunderstorms.

must not mind the rain, because rainforests

are some of the wettest places on Earth!

It’s the huge

amounts of rain The world’s lungs
that makes
Rainforests are sometimes called the
rainforest trees
grow so tall. “lungs of the world”. The trees help absorb
carbon dioxide from the air and turn it into
oxygen, which all living things
Rainforests are home
to lots of plants and need to breathe, including you!
animals that don’t
live anywhere else.
 Rainforests are
usually warm
and very damp.

The forest floor is nearly

Almost half of all dark because the trees
plant species on Earth block out so much of Tropical
live in rainforests. the sunlight. rainforests only
grow near the
Earth’s equator.

Emergent Land of layers

layer
Rainforests are made of separate
layers. There’s the forest floor,
and understorey, which are
full of small trees and animals.
Above them are the canopy,
a tangled group of trees, and the
emergent layer – where the
Forest tallest trees stick out at the top.
floor

29
 W o n derful water
Our planet is covered in water.
It’s in the sea, on the land,
and in the air. The journey of
water is called the water cycle.

2 The wind blows the

vapour over land.
When the water reaches
cooler air, it joins together
as droplets in clouds.

1 The Sun heats the sea

and turns the water into
vapour. The vapour rises
Most of the water
into the air. on Earth is seawater,
which is much too
salty to drink.
 Water states
When water is heated up
or cooled down, it can
change from liquid into
gas or solid ice. We

3 When the droplets get

too large and heavy,
they fall from the clouds
call these different
forms states.

as rain, or if it is cold
enough, as snow.

When ice gets

warm it melts and
turns into water in
its LIQUID form.

When water
gets very cold it
freezes into ice.
This is water in
its SOLID form.

When water gets hot

it turns into steam
(vapour). This is water
in its GAS form.

4 The water runs into the

ground, streams, and
rivers. It flows downhill,
often back into the sea to
start again.
31
 it grow?
d o es seeds
teen
,
y tiny turn
into
t im e
magic in slow
gh ike mo
l
How
u t’s ti
o I
s.

on
en

.
t
th
lan
Wi
tp
gian

ds are he
ee
re
nflower s

.
Su

Roots

1
A sunflower
2
The seeds are blown
3
Rain and sunshine
Seed
head is full off the flower and help the seed sprout
of seeds. onto the ground. and grow roots.

Big and small The coco de mer

Seeds come in lots of shapes tree has seeds that are
and sizes. Some are bigger as big as basketballs.
than your head, and others “Coco de mer” means
are almost too small to see! “sea coconut”.

32
 FL OWERS g
UN nd a r
tal
ig

ow
b

l.
Sunflower
shoot

The shell of a
sunflower seed Stem
falls off.

4
A green shoot
5
With help from the Sun
6
Finally there is a beautiful
opens up and says more leaves start to grow flower, and the whole
hello to the world. and the plant gets bigger. thing can start again!

CAN YOU see where the SEEDS are in these FRUITS?

Tomato Peach Strawberry Apple

 T he changing seasons
Each year, Earth goes through times of change that affect
the weather, plants, and animals. These are known as seasons.

Spring Sum mer

Spring can bring sunshine and rain, which Usually the warmest season, summer is
helps plants and trees start to bloom. the time crops and fruit grow the most.

Lots of animals Summer is a great

have babies or lay time of year for
eggs in spring. animals and plants.

34
 Why it happens
The seasons change as the Earth
The seasons don’t moves around the Sun and tilts
change as much near
the middle of the world, toward or away from it. So the
but they do affect how season you are having depends
much rain there is.
on where you live on the planet.

Autumn Winter
In autumn, the weather gets colder There is less sunshine in winter so it is much
and some trees start to lose their leaves. colder. Some animals sleep all winter long.

During autumn During winter the

leaves often days are darker
change colour. and longer.

35
 E x t r e m e weat her
Crazy, weird, or WILD, sometimes it seems
that weather has a mind of its own...

Heatwaves Floods Tornadoes

Super fast winds with a
spinning centre become
twisty tornadoes that
swirl and WHIRL.

This is what happens When there’s too much

when it’s hotter water and it has no
than usual. It makes place to go, you may
the ground dry up get destructive floods.
and can cause fires.

36
 Seem extreme?
When weather is extreme that means it’s
different to normal weather. There are many other types
of extreme weather, such as blizzards and hailstorms.

Hurricanes Lightning Thunder

These heavy monster
storms of wind and
rain are also known as
cyclones or typhoons.
BOOM

BOO
M
OM
BO
Bolts of electricity are This is the very loud
made inside clouds. They BOOMING sound
rush to Earth, striking that lightning makes.
tall buildings and trees.

37
 The Wind and the Sun
High up in the sky, the Wind was
arguing with the Sun about which
of them was stronger. s a nd hurricanes!
m
stor
k e d w e ak,” laughed t
m a et an he
n i Win
a
c e q u d.
I
“ ar
u
Yo

“B e
ing
is a kind and
lso cal m
r e pl a str
ied th ength,”
e Su n.

So they decided to have a contest to see

who could make a man take off his coat
first. The Wind thought he’d win easily.

38
The Wind huffed and puffed with all his might. The man’s coat flew open
but did not blow off. The Wind blew harder but the coat stayed on.

When it was the Sun’s turn, she smiled and began to slowly warm the
Earth. The man smiled back and took off his coat to enjoy the weather.

And so the Sun won! She showed

that being gentle and kind
is what makes you strong.

39
Very important things about
places

Our planet is a very big place. Six of

its seven continents are full of amazing people,
interesting animals, and stunning sights. Antarctica,
the seventh continent, is too cold for people to live
on – but it’s still pretty spectacular. Let’s take a look.

41
 I can count 7 continents
Time to fly around the world
and visit the continents.
These are the world’s
seven big areas 1
of land. Ready? North
There are more
Let’s go! than 20 countries A merica
in North America.

Bright lights at night

This is what the continents would look like from space if
it were night everywhere. All those lights are busy cities!

2
South
A merica

42
 is the BIGG EST
ia co
As n

ti
nen
t.
5
4 Asia
Europe More than half of
the people in the
world live in Asia.

3
Africa

6
Brrr! Antarctica is Australia
A u st r a

the driest, emptiest, .

n e nt
and coldest place
on Earth.

7
ti

ia
l

n
is co
Antarctica t he S M A L L ES T
43
 Postcards from
North America
There are 23 countries in North America.
They can be hot, cold, small, or BIG, but they’re
all full of interesting people and places.

Pacific Ocean

La s Ve ga s, US A,
ha s hu ge ho te ls
si gh ts . It ma y an d sp ec ta cu la r
be a bi g, bu st li
it ’s al so in th ng city , bu t
e mi dd le of a de
se rt !

The “Day of the Dead” is an

important event in Mexico.
People wear colourful costumes.

Life on every Caribb ean island is differ ent,

but there’ s always plenty of sun and lots of
beauti ful beache s.
44
 This island is
called Greenland.
It’s very
cold!
Atlantic Ocean

Canada is the
largest country in
North America. W
E

CANADA
S

Space
Needle

Mount Rushmore New York

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Las Vegas

MEXICO
Pe op le sa y Ne w
Yo rk Ci ty , US A,
“n ev er sl ee ps ”
Caribbean be ca us e th er e’ s
The USA has al wa ys so mu ch
go in g on .
islands
the most people El Castillo
in North America.

45
Postcards from
South America
Rainforests, rivers, and mountains are
just some of the things you’ll see on
this amazing, beautiful continent.

Th e Am az on ra
in fo re st is
an im al s. It ’s fu ll of
so bi g it co
pa rt s of ni ne ve rs
co un tr ie s.

ea th ta ki ng
sa lt fl at s of Bo li vi a ar e a br
Th e mi rr or
Th e sa lt cr ea te s an am az in g
si gh t.
ou nd .
ef fe ct on th e gr
Amazon
PERU
Theatre
 Pacific Christ the
Ocean Redeemer

Cathedral of
BOLIVIA Brasilia

Rio de
BRAZIL Janeiro
Atlantic
Ocean

An old Inc a cit y cal led Mac hu

Pic chu in Per u
was for got ten abo ut for hun dre
ds of yea rs.
Now peo ple tre k up the mou nta
ins to see it. Buenos
Aires

Ev er y ye ar th er
N e is a li ve ly
ca rn iv al in th e
Br az il ia n ci ty
of Ri o de Ja ne ir
o.

E Spanish is the official

Bue nos Air es is the cap ita l
of Arg ent ina . It has man y
language of many South
col our ful bui ldi ngs . American countries, but they
S speak Portuguese in Brazil.

47
 Postcards from
Africa MOROCCO

Africa is bursting with life.

It has rainforests and deserts, many Sahara
Desert
countries, millions of people, thousands of The Sahara Desert
is huge, hot, and dry.
languages, and astonishing animals.

Atlantic
Ocean

ed th e
o is so me ti me s ca ll
Ma rr ak es h in Mo ro cc we re
ny of it s bu il di ng s
Re d Ci ty be ca us e ma
st on e.
bu il t us in g re d sa nd
N

W
E
Chocolate
is made fr
beans insi om the coc
de cacao p oa
grow in We ods. They
st African
S forests.
48
 Sp hi nx

Py ra mi d

Th e Sp hi nx is
a my th ic al cr
EGYPT bo dy an d a hu ea tu re wi th
ma n he ad . Th a li on ’s
st at ue th at e Gr ea t Sp hi
Pyramids gu ar ds Gi za ’s nx is a
fa mo us py ra mi
ds .

e
ll er y wa s cr af te d by th
na l je we Ke ny a an d
Th is tr ad it io o co me fr om So ut he rn
KENYA , wh
Ma sa i pe op le
Ta nz an ia .
No rt he rn

Mount Kilimanjaro

MADAGASCAR

Many anima
Indian ls and pla
this lemur nts, such
, are only as
Ocean the island found on
Cape Town of Madagas
car.
49
 Postcards
from Europe
It may be small compared to other continents,
but Europe is packed with amazing cities,
people, and sights to discover.

Big
Atlantic Ben
Ocean

Eiffel
St on eh en ge in En gl an
d is a hu ge my st er y! Tower
bu il t th ou sa nd s of It wa s The Alps
ye ar s ag o fr om gi an
No bo dy kn ow s fo r su t st on es .
re ho w or wh y it wa
s ma de .

N
Rome

W
E
Bas ed in the cit y of Rom e in
Ita ly, the Vat ica n
is the wor ld’ s sma lle st cou ntr
y. It’ s the hom e
of the Pop e, the lea der of the
Cat hol ic Chu rch .
50 S
No rt he rn Eu ro
pe is on e of
Ea rt h to se e th e be st pl ac
th e Au ro ra Bo es on
di sp la y of na re al is , a sp
tu ra l li gh ts ec ta cu la r
.

Europe has around 50

official languages.

St Basil’s
Cathedral
th at Br an
Pe op le us ed to sa y
s th e ca st le
Ca st le in Ro ma ni a wa
of Co un t Dr ac ul a.
ROMANIA

Mediterranean
Sea

Man y peo ple tra vel to the Alp

s – a mou nta in
ran ge tha t cov ers eig ht cou ntr
ies – to ski ,
sno wbo ard , and go hik ing thr oug
h the mou nta ins .
51
 Postcards from
Asia
Asia is the BIGGEST continent and
it has the most people by far. It’s also
one of the most diverse continents.

JORDAN

Burj
Khalifa Taj
Mahal

ty in
i s a n ancient ci
Pet r a dings
n . M a n y o f the buil W
Jorda ock. E
into the r
are carved

S
52
Most of Russia To ky o is th e ca
pi ta l ci ty of Ja
is in Asia. da ys yo u ca n se pa n. On cl ea r
e Mo un t Fu ji fr
th ou gh it ’s ne ar om th er e, ev en
ly a hu nd re d mi
le s aw ay .

Tokyo
Tower

JAPAN
Great Wall
of China
e in Chi na.
Mor e tha n a bil lio n peo ple liv
in Eur ope .
CHINA Tha t’s mor e tha n ALL the peo ple
ges t cit ies .
Sha ngh ai is one of Chi na’ s big

Bangkok

Petronas
Towers So me pe op le tr av el
by wa te r th ro ug h Ba
Th ai la nd . Th er e ar e ng ko k in
ev en ri ve rb oa t ma rk
et s.

53
 Postcards from
Australia
The continent of Australia is made
up of the country Australia and
a few island countries nearby.

Y i s a popular
U G B spo
R rt
AL

Most people in Uluru

L

Australia live by
OV

the coast.
ER
Aus
tra
li
a .

an
c o a s t . You c
ralian its
s o n t he Aust om the top of Indian
Sydney
i y fr
t s o f the cit . Ocean
see l o ge
H a r b o ur Brid
famous
54
 re
at is ma de up of mo
Fi ji is a co un tr y th ha ve
ou nd 11 0 of th es e
th an 33 0 is la nd s. Ar
em .
This is the no bo dy li vi ng on th
largest coral reef
in the world.
Great
Barrier Reef

AUSTRALIA
New Zea lan d has two mai n isl and
s. The Nor th
isl and has gey ser s tha t sho ot
out ste am!

New Zealand, Fiji, and many

Pacific island countries are not
N technically on any continent,
Sydney Opera but we put them together
House under the name “Oceania.”

E
NEW ZEALAND
W

S
55
 Postcards from
Antarctica
It’s a big continent with almost
no people or animals. Why not?
Well, it’s very, VERY cold.
No one lives on
Antarctica all
the time.
Frozen continent
Antarctica’s land is mostly covered
in snow and ice. At REALLY cold
times of year, the ocean freezes
and the Antarctic gets even bigger.

Antarctica is where
you’ll find the
South Pole.
No rt h Po le
th is wa y

Where’s the Arctic?

N
The Arctic (where the North Pole is), From the
South Pole,
is at the other end of the Earth.
EVERY
It’s made of ice and a lot of animals direction is
North!
live there, but it isn’t a continent.

56
 Th e pe op le wh o go to
An ta rc ti ca ar e us ua
sc ie nt is ts . Th ey us ll y
e sp ec ia l ca rs to tr
ac ro ss th e fr oz en la av el
nd .

e on e of fe w
Em pe ro r Pe ng ui ns ar
nd le th e co ld
an im al s th at ca n ha
er .
of an An ta rc ti c wi nt
It almost
never rains in
The South
Pole Antarctica.
That means
it’s a very
cold desert!

Mo st of th e wo rl d’ s
su pp ly of fr es h wa te
fr oz en in th e ic e ca r is
ps of An ta rc ti ca .

57
Very important things about
animals

Animals are the wonderful creatures that share

our planet. They include beautiful birds, fantastic
fish, marvellous mammals, and so much more.
Animals come in all shapes, sizes, and colours,
from a BIG blue whale, to a teeny tiny insect.

59
 What are animals?
All plants and animals are living things. What makes animals
special is they choose to move around and must eat to survive.

Mammals Birds Reptiles

If an animal feeds its Our feathered friends These scaly creatures
babies with milk, it’s a are birds. All birds have are cold-blooded. This
mammal. Most of them feathers, but not all of them doesn’t mean their blood is
have fur, but they can can fly. Some of them can cold, it means their bodies
all look very different. swim and run fast though. can’t heat up on their own.

Snake

Gorilla Kingfisher

Tortoise

Panda Flamingo Alligator

60
 What about
Type trouble? ME?
Animals come in all shapes and
sizes! To make it easier, every
You’re a mammal
animal belongs to a group. like us!

Amphibians Fish Invertebrates

Most amphibians are Fins help make fish super Invertebrates don’t have
born in water and grow swimmers! They can be a backbone. Most
up to be able to breathe found in oceans, rivers, lakes, have a shell or a soft
air. As adults they can ponds, and streams. They body. There are so
live in water or on land. breathe in water using gills. many different types!

Butterfly
Toad Goldfish

Frog
Centipede

Shark

Salamander Eel Octopus

61
 Dinosaurs once
ruled the Earth
Long before people existed, giant reptiles called
dinosaurs ruled the Earth for millions
of years... but where are they now?
The fearsome
T. rex had
enormous bone-
Dinosaurs lived in different time
crushing teeth. periods, so many of the ones
on this page never met!

This dinosaur
Sinosauropteryx had feathers but
(SIGH-no-sore-OP-ter-ix) it couldn’t fly.

u r u s rex
Tyra nnosa ) E-us
an-o h-SOR
(TIE-r

Triceratops
means “three-
horned face”.

Triceratops
(Try-SERRA-tops)
62
 End of an era Why do all of our
About 66 million years ago, names have to be so
a massive meteorite hit the difficult to spell?!

Earth and caused a huge dust cloud

that blocked the Sun’s light.
Without it, the dinosaurs Therizinosaurus
couldn’t survive. (THERRY-zin-oh-SORE-us)

Mamenchisaurus
(Ma-MEN-chee-SORE-us)

Spiky plates

Stegosaurus
(STEG-oh-SORE-us) Velociraptor
(Vel-OSS-ee-rap-tor)

Winged wonder
In 2015 Chinese
scientists discovered the
remains of a dinosaur called
Don’t I look a fright?
Zhenyuanlong suni. I have feathers, jaws,
It’s the biggest winged dinosaur and razor-sharp claws.
ever discovered, and a relative
of the famous Velociraptor.

63
 Mighty mammals
These clever creatures come in all shapes and
sizes, from the mini mouse to the long-necked
giraffe. You’re a mammal too – all people are!

Mother’s milk
Mammals can seem very
This sea giant may look
like a big fish, but all
different to each other – and
whales are mammals. they are! But one thing they all
have in common is that mammal
mums make milk to feed their babies.

Babies drink milk

Most are furry

Whale
Most don’t lay eggs

Warm-blooded

64
 Bats prefer to
I’m your relative! Monkeys, come out at night.
apes, and humans belong to a
group called primates.

Bat

Monkey
and We are the only
mammals that really fly.
baby Other mammals, such as
giant flying squirrels, only
glide rather than fly.

Elephants use
their trunk
like a hand.

Elephant
Bear

Quack quack?
Despite its bill and webbed feet,
Tiger
this is actually a platypus, not a
and cub
fuzzy duck. It is one of the only
mammals that lays eggs. Gorilla
65
 Fabulous fish
From giant sharks to tiny seahorses, fish can
look very different from one another. But all
fish are perfectly suited to life in water.

Sharks are
fish too!

Goldfish are popular

pets, sharks are not!

Fins help
fish stay
upright.
Many have scales

Fishy facts Breathe with gills

Rather than breathing with lungs,
fish breathe using their gills. And Cold-blooded
unlike mammals and birds, most fish
are cold-blooded. This means Have fins
they can’t warm up their own bodies.

66
 Sharks and
rays have
soft bones.
Flying
fish
Stingray

Pufferfish
Catfish

I swim by wiggling my
tail fin from side to side.

Moray eel

Seahorse Tang
There are more than
30,000 different
species of fish.

Clownfish

It’s seahorse dads, not

mums, that give birth
to their babies.

67
 Birds don’t
have teeth in
their beaks.

Beautiful birds
Look up! It’s easy to spot a bird.
Some may fly, some may talk, others
may swim, others may squawk. Birds
are the only animals with feathers.
Toucan

Have feathers
Fantastic feathers
Lay eggs No matter where a bird may live,
its feathers keep it dry and warm.
Have beaks And without their feathers, birds
wouldn’t be able to fly !
Warm-blooded

68
 We are the smallest
birds in the world.
Our eggs are TINY.

Eagle

Hummingbirds

Macaw

Pelican Woodpecker

Ostrich
I’m so big that I can’t fly,
and chick
but I’d rather run fast
than be up in the sky.
Chicken

No fly zone
Try as they might, some birds,
such as penguins and ostriches,
can’t fly. But ostriches can
run very fast, and penguins
are really good swimmers.

Ducks
69
 Scaly reptiles
Whether they slither, scurry, snap, or hiss, all reptiles
have scales. Like a suit of armour, scaly skin protects
them from predators. It is also waterproof.

Hot and cold

Reptiles are cold-blooded. This means
their body doesn’t naturally help to
cool them when they are hot, or
warm them when they are cold.

Have scales

Most lay eggs

Spines
Cold-blooded
Chameleon

70
 Frilled
Don’t make me angry! lizard
If you do, I will open
my frill and hiss to
scare you away.

Snake
Snakes shed a layer
of skin when it gets
too tight. This is
called moulting.

Crocodile

Tuatara
e d
ar
o ll rd A group of
Tortoise
C iza tortoises is
l called a creep.
Geckos have
sticky feet
for climbing.

I mostly eat insects, but if

I’m very hungry, I might eat
other small lizards!

Geckos
71
 Awesome
amphibians
These animals have super powers.
Well, not really, but they can live on both
land and water. That’s pretty super!

Life cycles
Frogs, like most amphibians,
are born from eggs. They Frog
slowly grow and change
in the water until they are
ready for life on land.

Froglet Eggs

Tad poles

72
 Poison
Moist skin
dart
frog
Cold-blooded
Colour caution
A lot of the brightest and most Teeny
No hair or fur tiny frog!
colourful frogs are poisonous.
It’s very clever – it’s almost as if
Can live on land
they’re saying “don’t eat me!”
or water

I’m a salamander.
My body and tail are very
smooth and slimy.

Axolotl
Toad

Say my name like

“AXE-oh-LOT-el”
Salamander

Frog

Caecilian

73
 Munch!
Munch!

Brilliant bugs
Think of a place. Any place in the world...
Bugs live there! There are lots of types
of bug. Which ones do you know?
Ladybird
Feelers

Gold
beetle
Green
shield bug

Beautiful beetles
There are more types of beetle in the
world than of any other animal. There
are probably lots more to discover.

Three body
sections

Many have Wings

wings
= Insect
Six legs A beetle is an insect.

74
 Fly

Wicked webs
Most spiders spin webs to catch
their food. Spiders usually eat
Two body
insects such as flies, but very sections
big spiders can catch birds.
Eight legs

Two body
sections

No wings
= Arachnid
A spider is an arachnid. Eight legs

Snail trail
Garden snails like to come out at One body
night to nibble on plants. Wherever section
they go, they make a carpet of slime
to move along smoothly. How slick! One long
foot
Shell One body section
No legs

One long
= Gastropod
foot A snail is a gastropod.

75
 a t e r p i l l a r t o
C tterfly
bu
terpilla rs turn into beautiful
a t? Ca
t’sth w does that happen?
H o
Wh
a
r f lies ?
te
but
2
A caterpillar
Pupa

hatches from
an egg.

3
The caterpillar grows
up and changes into a

1
A butterfly lays
pupa (or a chrysalis).

eggs on a leaf.

Egg

76
 Monarch
butterfly

The layers of a butterfly’s wings

are so thin you can actually The monarch
see through them. butterfly can live
up to nine months.

4
After a while the
pupa opens and out
comes a butterfly!

Empty
pupa case

Stretching out
Butterfly wings are folded
and wrinkly at first, but
they soon stretch out so
the butterfly can fly away.

77
 Animal habitats
Every animal has a special place that
they call home. In the animal world
we call these places habitats.

Forests
More than half of the world’s animal
and plant species live in rainforests!
It’s important to look
after our habitats.

I love living in the forest!

I’m a great climber, and
I use my tail to balance.

78
 I’m great at swimming
Oceans and holding my breath!
and seas
Salty oceans and seas
are brimming with fish,
mammals, and bugs.

Deserts
Not that many animals I can go months
can live in a desert without drinking.
because there isn’t
much water to drink.

Rivers
and lakes
I can fly and
Lakes and rivers have I can swim.
fresh water, which
means it isn’t salty.

Grasslands
Food can be hard
to find in grasslands,
especially during
the dry season. My long neck helps
me reach leaves
in tall trees.
79
80
North
Pole to pole
It’s very cold near the North and South Pole.
But that doesn’t stop some animals from living there!
South

Seals These Arctic animals see

almost no daylight
in winter and almost no
darkness during summer.
Polar
bears Snowy Reindeer
owl

North Pole Walrus

(The Arctic)
A polar bear’s Underneath
fur helps it blend my fur, my skin
in with the snow. is black!
 81
Penguin domination Sout
There aren’t very many types of animal in Arctic (T h e
h Pole
Antarctica, but millions of penguins love it! tern An ta r c t ic )
I fly between
both poles! King
Emperor penguins
penguins
King penguins
balance their
egg on their feet
to keep it warm.
I’m one of the
smallest types
of penguin.
Fur My favourite food Adelie
is yummy fish.
seal penguin
 I spy… on the farm
From sheep and cows to goats and horses,
there are lots of animals to spot at a farm.
Which ones can you see?

Sheep

Moo! I live on Cow

Geese dairy farms and
Cow’s milk is
make milk.
used to make
cheese and
ice cream.

There are farms that have just one type of

Growing crops Corn

A lot of farmland is used to grow Also known as maize,
crops. This is where most of our corn is a popular food to
eat. There are lots of corn
food comes from. The most common
farms in the USA.
crops are corn, rice, and wheat.
82
 A rooster sings
“cock-a-doodle-do!” Chickens

I help out
by carrying people
Farm tasks
on my back. Farms help us get the
things we need, such as
eggs for our breakfast
and wool for our clothes.

Horse

Pig
Pigs love to roll in mud, but
Turkey not because they’re dirty – the mud
Goat stops them from getting sunburnt!

animal, such as salmon or even snails!

Rice Wheat
Delicious rice needs lots Wheat is used to
of water to grow. In parts make lots of foods,
of Asia, people eat rice RIC including bread,
E
almost every day. pasta, and cakes!
 I spy...
in the mountains
We’re a long way up! Are we being
watched? Do you know these
mountain animals?

Mountain lions are

Eagle
also called cougars. Eagles soar high
above the peaks.
Mountain
lion

Wolf Wolves live in a

family group
called a pack.

Mountain ranges across the world all have their own

Andes Atlas Mountains

The Andean condor The Barbary macaque
lives in South America. is a type of monkey from
Its huge wings help it Africa. The leaders of each
glide through the air. group are always female.

84
 Coyotes love to
howl at the Moon.

Black bears
are very good at
climbing trees. Black
bear

Coyote

Mountain
goat

I’m an amazing
climber. You should see
me walking on cliffs.

special animals. Here are some you may not know.

Southern Alps Himalayas

The kea of New Zealand The yak is a type
is the world’s only of cattle that lives in
mountain parrot. It’s so parts of Asia. It can
clever it can solve puzzles. live very high up.

85
 Desert animals
Hot and dry deserts aren’t as empty as they look.
Some animals are perfectly adapted to live there.

I’m on look-out duty!

I stand up tall to spot dangers
and protect my family.

Meerkats live in
big family groups
called mobs.

Meerkats

86
 I can go for
Camel A camel’s hump
is full of fat!
weeks without
any water!

Thirsty weather
Animals need to drink, but there
isn’t much water in the desert.
All these animals have adapted
to only drink every now and then.

Diadem
snake
Spiny
mouse

Thorny devil
This lizard lives in the
Australian Outback.

Desert
scorpion

87
 I spy…
on the African plains
Let’s go on a SAFARI! There are so many
exciting animals to spot on the African plains.

Giraffes

Gazelles

A giraffe’s long
neck helps it
reach food in
high places. Zebras

There are grasslands across the world, but in Africa

Lions African buffalo

These powerful big These thirsty
cats live in family beasts never
groups called stray too far
prides. away from a
source of water.
88
Where’s the water? I like to climb trees.
Sometimes I bring my
The African plains are wide, open meals up here, too!
grasslands. It’s a hot and dry
place, so animals gather around
watering holes to drink.
Leopard

Elephants

Elephants are the

Hippopotamus
biggest land animals
in the world.

this place is called the SAVANNAH.

Leopard White rhino

Quick and agile, Although this two-horned
a leopard’s coat animal looks like a slow,
helps it to hide heavy giant, it can
in grass while it actually run quite fast.
is hunting.
89
 The very big
blue whale
A giant of the sea, there’s no
creature anywhere that’s the
size of the big blue whale.

Barnacle

I’m big. VERY big!

A blue whale’s heart
is as big as a car.

Eve
n l
ong
er t
han a
BUS.

90
Mighty mam mal
Whales aren’t fish (like sharks),
so they have to come up to Blue whales are
breathe air. They are mammals, bigger than even the
like mice, but SO MUCH bigger! biggest dinosaurs!

I’m a tiny barnacle and

clinging is my thing, I eat
the whale’s leftovers and
live like a king.

e n ’t just
Enor
mo
mout us s ar
le
Blue w ha OUD! W hales
h

L
big, they’re
loud as
can m ake sounds as
an A E
ROPLANE taking off.

Big appetite
A blue whale’s food is teeny tiny itsy
bitsy krill. To fill up, the whale has to
eat 40 million a day. That’s LOADS!
Krill

91
 Super sharks
They may look all toothy and scary, but
guess what – a lot of sharks are harmless.

What are sharks?

Sharks are a type of fish. They
swim in every sea and some
rivers. Most sharks have lots
I’m the GREAT
of teeth, but others have none.
WHITE shark, the
deadliest hunter
in the ocean!
Great white
shark

Sharp teeth

92
 Hammerhead
shark
Hammerhead sharks have
eyes on the side of their
heads to help spot prey.

It may be the biggest shark

in the world, but the whale
shark is a gentle giant.

Whale
shark
A basking shark has
a BIG, big mouth
but NO teeth!

Basking Gills for

shark breathing
shark
rn
n te
la
Dwarf

I’m the size

of a banana!
I eat just
about anything.
Tiger Yum yum!

shark
93
 Primate party
These clever, curious, and chatty creatures are
part of an animal group called primates.
And guess what? People are primates too.

Ch
im
pa
Monkey business nz
ee
If someone calls you a cheeky
monkey, it’s almost true! Humans
a n are closely related to chimps,
ut
who are very smart apes
ng
Ora

(but not monkeys).

We are the
smartest
primates.

Orangutans love
to eat fruit.
94
Swing kings C a p u c hi n Monkeys can use
mo their long tails
Some primates, like to climb trees.

nk
monkeys, have tails,

ey
but chimpanzees and
gorillas (which are
both apes) do not. I live on the forest floor
with my gorilla pals.
I’m too big and heavy to
live up in the trees.
r m o n key E A R S!
o wle y our
Cov e r
H

s are
Howler monkey
VERY NOISY.

Spider
monkey

Gorilla
95
 Speedy species
Sloths aren’t How fast can you run? Check out the
lazy! We just take
our time. competition in the animal kingdom with
these very fast, and very slow, animals.
START

Seahorse
Seahorses are
very slow swimmers. Human

Wait for me!

Ostrich
Snail

Dolphin

Dolphins can jump high Ostriches may not be

out of the water. able to fly but they
can run very fast!

96
 Strong swim mers
I dive to catch
Polar bears can swim fast and
my prey.
cover huge distances. Scientists
tracked a bear who swam for nine Peregrine
days without stopping to eat or sleep. falcons can dive
faster than any
other animal FINISH
can move!

Alpine swift
Horse Alpine swifts fly very
quickly, and they hardly
ever stop to perch or land.

Cheetah
Look how quick
Cheetahs are the I am!
fastest land animal.

Horse-fly

Look at me
swim!

Sailfish

97
 Big cats
Have you seen pet cats relaxing,
purring, chasing, and playing?
Well big cats do that too!
Hard to spot
Some big cats have patterned fur
to keep them hidden when hunting.
Leopard

Cheetahs can
run very fast!
Don’t let the
yawn fool you.

Cheetah

Most big cats are the top

Tiger Domestic cat

Tigers are the If you watch your pet
biggest and cat, you’ll spot some
strongest of similarities with
all the big cats. the big cats!
Purr-fect hunters
Big cats are carnivores. This means they
eat meat, and have to hunt for their dinner.

Lions live in family

groups called prides.

Lions

Female lionesses look after the

cubs and do most of the hunting.

hunter in their environment.

Black panther Snow leopard

Panthers are really black Snow leopards have very
leopards, but it’s hard thick fur to keep them
to see their spots. warm on cold mountains.
 Animals after dark
While you sleep at night, a secret world is waking up.
Meet the curious creatures that come out after dark.
We call these animals nocturnal.

My long nose
helps me to sniff
out food.

Armadillos have
long tongues for
catching ants. Badger

Aardvark
Armadillo

Smell and hearing, touch and sight,

Fennec fox Raccoon
The smallest fox is called the Using an incredible sense of
fennec fox. It lives in hot, touch, raccoons can feel
dry deserts and uses their way around
its big ears to listen for prey. in total darkness.
100
 I fly so quietly that
my prey never hears
me coming.
Bat
Right for night
Nocturnal animals have special night-time
Owl
powers like great eyesight or super
hearing that help them in the dark. I have great
hearing.

Play-fighting
helps fox cubs
learn how
to hunt.

Foxes
Wolf
Wolves have super
night vision – all the
better to see you with!
Hedgehog

help these creatures feed at night!

Kiwi Bush baby
Kiwis live in New Zealand. They These little creatures
can’t fly or see very well, but are found in Africa.
they have nostrils at the tip They have big eyes
of their beaks to sniff out food. that help them see.
 The tortoise
and the hare
There once was a very fast hare who
loved to boast about his super speed.

tortoise
One day, a wise old
Start
hare to a race.
challenged the

re!
y the
r l
Nea

zz
z h the to
rto i se so far beh
ind,
to stop for a
zz i t d e d He’s making
W c i
are de der a tree.
the h
a mistake!
z

e e p u n
ing sl
relax

102
 a re
w , the h
re s
lo
s es a e a sily.
i in
e torto ould w
au s he w
B e c ug h t
tho
go!
go,
Go,

ad lod a
ily ded
e
lik
ay
aw s

.
p
ed i

e
s p r to
e o te
e har the t s
Th hile nd
, w y a
flash lowl alf
way
g s H
alon

and
Fi

caught up
ni

rto is e
to
he finish line.
sh

lep t , the ay to t
li
s w
hare him on his
ne

h e
As t ed past
walk

The tortoise was proud that

he didn’t give up, and the hare
felt silly for being so careless.
1st 103
Very important things about
people

The way we live today is all thanks to the people

who have created and discovered wonderful
things. We’ve come a long way since humans were
living in caves, and now we can cure lots of diseases,
travel around the world, and even go to the Moon!

105
 Very early
humans
A lot of what we know about early
people, we learned from things
they made and their cave paintings.

Early people would have had to

live near water, so lots of cave
paintings show rivers and streams.

Sabre-toothed tiger

How did they do it?

Some drawings were scratched
into rocks, but others were made
with a kind of paint made from
animal fat and charcoal.
106
Mammoths don’t exist today. They r es
Lot t u
were like bigger, hairier elephants. s c
pi od.
of o w
of cave s h fo
peop p a i nt i n g s r
le hu t h ei
nting for
Mammoth

Clever clues
We don’t know much about
early humans, so their cave
paintings give us helpful clues.
Hunting tools

Woolly
rhino

107
 Early discoveries
These discoveries seem so simple to us now,
but they were all so important that it’s impossible
to imagine our world without them.
We first made
fires by rubbing
sticks together.

Fire
Learning how to make fire
meant we could cook our food.
Over time, this changed our
brains and bodies, which allowed
us to become clever enough to
invent and discover other things.
Fire was (and still is) a very
important source of heat and light.

108
 Ancient
The wheel stone
wheel
We still use wheels to get around and
move heavy objects, but before the
wheel was invented we could only push
heavy things or roll them over logs!

This is VERY
heavy!

Without wheels,
we wouldn’t have
cars or bikes.

Tools
All sorts of jobs, such as hunting, making
clothes, and farming the land, became much
easier when we started making and using tools.

Early tools

We’re still
inventing new types
of tool today.

109
 e o f t h e
t i m
The aohs
phar o po werfu l people
im ea g
n g, long t
d ov er the
A lo oh s rule
p ha ra p t.
called
nt Eg y
a nc ie
land of

Mummy mystery This is the sarcophagus of

the pharaoh Tutankhamun
When a pharaoh died he was (toot-en-car-moon).
made into a mummy and
buried in a fancy box called a
sarcophagus (sar-COFF-a-guss).

Then and now THEY WORE MAKE-UP THEY WROTE THINGS DOWN
Even though they lived Men and women wore eye-liner. Their writing even had pictures.
so long ago, the ancient
Egyptians did a lot of
things that we do today.
110
 up in bandag
d es

pe
rap

be
or

f
e w
e
th

Th
wer ey d .

e t at P
Gr
were burie

all yr
e
es am
s

t b id
ie

uil
M um

din t G
g i iza
a
nt .I
he t s
an till
cie st
nt and
The pyramids were

wo s
rld tod
built as tombs for pharaohs.

w a a y.
st
Mummies were buried with

he
special items such as jewels.

Meow!

THEY WORE SOCKS THEY CLEANED THEIR TEETH

Yes, really! The Egyptians even invented
a type of breath mint!

THEY HAD CATS

Cats were seen as very
important. Some were
made into mummies. 111
 Ancient China
During the country’s long history,
Chinese people have built, discovered,
and invented many important things.

Terracotta
army

Silk

Tea

More than 8,000 Tea is very important The Chinese figured

life-sized statues to China’s history. out how to make silk
of soldiers protect the Many people still host from silkworm cocoons
first emperor of China’s special ceremonies and used it to
grave. Every soldier with tea to The way to make silk make kites
has a different face. this day. was kept a secret for and fancy
years and years!
clothes.

Th e Gr ea t Wa ll
of Ch in a.

112
 Gunpowder is
Gunpowder, paper,
printing, and the
compass are often
called China’s Four
Great Inventions.

w ha
Co
m

t m
pa

ak
ss

es
fi
re
wor
ks
go B
ANG!
Kite

The compass was More than just a fun There aren’t many
a Chinese invention toy, Chinese people things more important
that helped sailors used kites to test than paper. Without
and explorers find the speed of the wind paper, you couldn’t
their way at sea. and send signals to read this book!
each other.

The Chinese use

symbols, not letters.

113
 Aborigines Aborigines means
“original inhabitants”.
The aboriginal people lived in Australia
long before anyone else, and they Uluru
still live there today. Their way of life
has continued for thousands of years.

Spiritual people
Many Aborigines feel connected
to the land. They have many
beliefs, stories, and legends about
how the world was created.
Sticks were used to make fire.

Many aboriginal people tell tales about the world through

Signs and symbols

Aboriginal art uses symbols
to tell stories. This is what
a few of the symbols mean.
Human footprint River
114
 Boomerangs are
sticks that come
back when
you throw them.

The didgeridoo is an
ancient musical instrument.
A sacred rock
Uluru is a massive rock that
is very important to Aborigines.
At the bottom, there are caves
filled with ancient paintings.

MUSIC, DANCE, STORIES, and ART.

Men around campfire Kangaroo tracks Water hole

115
 Reall y m o d e r n
Romanmsans were a
Water ways
The Romans invented
The ancient Ro aqueducts. These
p le w h o lived long ago. special bridges carried
group of peo water to towns and villages.
ch of th e ir lives were
But mu
ally qu ite m o d ern.
re

We Romans
loved big feasts.
Big baths
Most Romans didn’t have baths
at home. They went to public
baths to wash with their friends.

Now and then

They had toilets
The Romans were really clever. and sewers!
They used or invented a lot of
things that we still have today!
They figured out how to blow
into hot glass to make goblets.
 suvius d est
M ount Ve royed
,
pted
r u of Po m p eii and cove
e ity red
c it
it e in
th
n
as
W he

h.

Roman Ro m an s we nt to st
ad iu m s,
chariot lik e th e Co lo ss eu
m in
Ro m e, to wa tc h sh
ow s.
Th e Co lo ss eu m st
ill
st an ds to da y!
Romans enjoyed
watching gladiator fights.
Sometimes, gladiators
even fought lions!

T h e Ro m a n s b u i l t l o n g , s t r a i g h t r o a d s .

“I ca m e, I saw,
I conq uered”
Ju liu s Ca es ar,
They were the a Ro m an em pe ro r,
first people to on ce sa id th is .
Em pe ro rs we re of te
use concrete They had police n
po we r hu ng ry an d
for building. and fire fighters! th ey
co nq ue re d m an y la
nd s.
 Viking raiders
Coming from Scandinavia (that’s Norway, Denmark,
and Sweden), the Vikings were the fierce warriors,
raiders, traders, and invaders of old Europe.

Super ships
Vikings longships could
travel in deep or shallow
water. This allowed the
Vikings to travel up
rivers for sneak attacks.

Mighty warriors
Brilliant at surprise
attacks, Vikings were
very fearsome fighters Sharp axes and Viking swords
who took lots of spears were were very
sometimes strong and
weapons and armour thrown at sharp on
into battle. their enemies. both edges.

118
 Powerful people
The Vikings believed in the Norse gods.
They include Odin, the god of war,
Freyja, the goddess of love, and
Thor, the god of thunder.

Many people think Vikings had

horns on their helmets, but
they didn’t! It would have been
too easy to knock them off!

Vikings shields were made of

wood and had an iron centre
which protected the hand.
 Ancient
Americans
From farmers and builders to warriors and
thinkers, many different ancient civilizations
once called Central and South America home.

What links them? Patterned

Although these people lived in different Aztec pot

places at different times, farming maize

was very important to their way of life.
They also all built many great temples
and statues, and worshipped lots of gods. Maize (corn)
was a very
important
source of food.

The Olmec
The Olmec are most famous
for building statues of giant
heads. Many people think
the Olmec influenced both the
Maya and Aztec way of life.

120
 The Maya studied The Maya
the sky and the stars. The Maya were one of the most
They created a calendar
advanced ancient civilizations.
by watching the planets.
They invented a writing system
using numbers, pictures, and letters.

Cocoa beans were used

to make a drink called
chocolatl. The Aztecs Machu
drank it cold, and the Picchu
Maya drank it hot.

Cocoa
beans

The Aztecs
A group of mighty warriors,
the Aztecs built up a large
empire in what is now
Central Mexico. Machu Picchu was an
Inca city built high up
in the Andes mountains.

Golden llama Jug The Inca

The largest empire of South
America, the Inca made
many objects from gold.
They believed it was
the sweat of the Sun!

121
 Native Americans
Long before Christopher Columbus sailed
across the Ocean to the New World,
native tribal people were already
living all over North America.

Where were they?

Tribal people lived all over the land,
from the freezing north to deserts in the
south. Many tribes travelled the Great
Plains, sleeping in tents called tepees.

Some tribes built

colourful totem poles
to show important
things such as family Some tribes
history or legends. believed a dance
could bring rain to
Totem help crops grow.
pole
122
 Special items
Native American tribes invented
many things, including lacrosse
and tobogganing.

Eagle
feathers

This war shield was

A merican used by the Taos
buffalo Pueblo people.
The most respected
warriors of some
Ceremonial tribes wore special
Tepees tomahawk war bonnets.

The tomahawk was

a type of axe used as
a tool or a weapon.

Corn (maize)
Ways of life was a very
Every tribe was different. Some important crop
and source
were farmers and fishermen and of food.
others were hunters and warriors.

123
 Festivals and
celebrations
Old or new, big or small, important or just
for fun, festivals are a great way for
people to come together and celebrate!

January February March

New Year’s Day Groundhog Day For Hinamatsuri,
celebrates the beginning is an American tradition Japanese people display
of the year – often to celebrate that spring dolls to wish young girls
with fireworks. is on its way. happiness and health.

Groundhog
Traditional
doll

July August Septem ber

The Mud Festival in Awa Odori South African people
South Korea is all about is a traditional celebrate their culture
mud, and how great it is! Japanese street on Heritage Day,
dance festival. with feasts.

124
 Diwali Chinese Passover Eid al-Fitr
The Hindu festival New Year A Jewish holiday Muslims celebrate
of light is a time A very important that remembers the end of Ramadan
where people pray Chinese holiday that Moses with a with a big meal full
for good fortune. invites good luck. meal called “seder”. of special treats.

April May June

Songkran is a New Cinco de Mayo The Andean people hold
Year’s celebration in remembers a Mexican Inti Raymi, the Incan
Thailand where people victory with parades, Sun Festival, on the
have big water fights! dancing, and food. shortest day of the year.

October November December

During Halloween, Dia de los Muertos Christmas
children dress up in scary remembers those who have is a Christian
costumes and eat sweets. died through food holiday that
and decorations. celebrates the
birth of Jesus.
125
 Eager explorers
These amazing travellers journeyed to different
parts of the world, allowing different cultures
to learn about each other for the first time.

I was searching
for a faster way
to travel to Asia.
Instead I found
the AMERICAS!

Columbus was the first

European to start a
colony in the Americas,
but many native people
Christopher Colu m bus lived there first.
126
Gertrude Gertrude Bell explored
Bell I learned eight the history and cultures
languages so that
I could speak to of the Middle East.
the people I met She was also a spy for the
on my travels.
British during World War I!

Marco Polo

Marco Polo spent 24 years

travelling around Asia.
He returned to Europe
and told people about
lots of Chinese inventions.

Zheng
He
Ibn
Battuta

After spending most of his life

travelling around Africa, Asia, The Chinese explorer Zheng He led more
and the Middle East, Battuta than 300 ships on seven expeditions
wrote a book about his journey. to explore Asia and Africa.
127
 Important
inventors
These brain boxes are just some of the clever
inventors whose ideas helped change our world.
Printing
press
Electric
motor

Paper

Michael Faraday
was a master of
Without electricity. He worked
Before Cai Lun invented Johannes Gutenberg, with electricity and
paper, people had to you would not be reading magnets, and created the
make do with writing and this book! His printing first electric motor.
drawing on cave walls, press allowed people to
silk, or even bone! share their ideas and stories.

Cai Lun used

squashed up
plants to Faraday made lots of other
make paper. discoveries using electricity.
 World Wide Web

Aeroplane
Lig ht bulb

Thomas Edison’s The Wright brothers, Tim Berners-Lee

brightest idea was to Orville and Wilbur, took to had a very clever plan
create a new and the skies with the first for computers all over
improved light bulb. powered aeroplane. the world to be able to
If it wasn’t for his work, communicate. This is
you might be reading known as the World
this book by candlelight! Wide Web.

Edison invented Propellers are turned

thousands of things by the engine to move
during his lifetime. the plane.
129
 Super scientists
Scientists help us understand our world. So without these
clever people, we’d know much less than we do!
Gravity

Evolution

Planets

Galileo Galilei was After watching an apple By studying animals

a genius who invented fall from a tree, Isaac and fossils, Charles
a new telescope and Newton decided to work Darwin noticed that
showed that heavier items out why things fall. (The animal species slowly
don’t fall quicker answer? Gravity!) change over time.
than lighter ones. He came up with
Newton also built the theory of
a new type of
Galileo
telescope. evolution.
dropped items
from the
Leaning Tower
of Pisa to
prove his
point!
130
 Galileo found
2
c
out a lot about
the Universe.

= m
E

Animals
Radiation
Space

Marie Curie was Albert Einstein Jane Goodall studied

a science whiz who explained that space and chimpanzees in the
experimented with time are parts of the same wild for 50 years. She
radioactivity. She thing (space-time). discovered that they
won the Nobel Prize, He also studied how fast have personalities and
an award given to light travels. emotions – just like us!
scientists, TWICE!
Einstein’s brain
was studied by
scientists to
see what made
him so clever.
 Travel by land
Have you ever noticed how many different
vehicles there are on the road? There are loads!

Cool cars
Car Bicycle
You can go far and fast
in a car. Some people
race fast cars for fun.

Road tripping
Vehicles help us move people or objects from one place to another
much quicker than by walking. Do you recognize any of these?

Farmers use
tractors to
help them
on the farm.

Tractor Motorcycle
132
 Train Trains travel quickly across the land.
The Shanghai Maglev Train
is the fastest in the world.
Blink and you’ll miss it!

Caravan Truck Taxi

Taxis take
people where
they want to go.

Lorry Taxis in NEW YORK are yellow.

Dump truck

Fire engine

Emergency
vehicles make
loud noises to tell
other drivers they To the sea
are nearby.

133
 Travel by water
Our world is full of water, from oceans
and rivers, to canals and lakes. Boats
allow us to move across them.

Cruise
ship

Ocean motion Cruise ships are like water

Boats move across the hotels. They’re so huge
they have restaurants,
water in different ways.
swimming pools, and even
Most boats are powered tennis courts!
by engines, but others
rely on the wind.

Fishing boat
Speedboat
Rowing boat

134
Container ships move HEAVY things across the sea.

Container ship
Boats are better than planes for carrying Sailing
heavy items, as they’re bigger and stronger. boat
Jet-s
ki
These boats move
when strong winds
blow their sails.

Tug
boat

Tiny ong
tug boats are str
enoug B I G G E R ships.
h to tow much

Hovercraft
Junk boat

Hovercrafts have a big cushion that

lets them travel on water or on land.
135
 Travel by air
Let’s take a journey into the sky. Is that a big
mechanical bird? No, it’s a plane! Soaring
high and moving fast, where’s it off to today?

Glider Jumbo jet

Cockpit

Biplane

Landing
wheels

Biplanes are one of

the oldest types
of plane, but pilots Stairs
still fly them today.

Propeller
Speedy travel Lig
Aeroplanes are the fastest way ht
air
cra
to get across the world. Before ft
planes, people had to rely on
boats, which are much slower.
136
 air
Smart pilots Hot

ba
People who fly aircraft are

lloon
called pilots. It takes a lot
of practice and skill to do!

Tail

Wing

Luggage
truck

Engine Helicopter

s f ight each o k y .
l a ne ther in the s
p
T hese

Fighter jet
Fighter jets fly so
quickly they can travel
faster than sound!
137
 Totally tall towers
Modern buildings reach up so high in the sky it looks like they
go up forever. It’s no wonder we call them skyscrapers!

Taipei
101
Petronas 509 m
E m pire State
Towers (1,670 ft)
Building 452 m
Eiffel 443 m (1,453 ft) (1,483 ft)
Tower
300 m Shard
(984 ft) 310 m
(1,017 ft)
How do
I get down
from here?

Right now clever architects are coming up

Amazing places Angkor Wat Leaning Tower

Buildings don’t have to be tall of Pisa
It leans because
to be well-known. Here are
it’s too heavy for
some other famous buildings the soft ground
from around the world. that it’s built on.

138
 Burj
Brilliant builders Khalifa
828 m
The people who design buildings are known as architects.
(2,716 ft)
It’s a job that takes lots of hard work and planning.

Shanghai Tokyo
Tower Skytree
632 m 634 m
(2,080 ft)
Lotte (2,073 ft)

World
Tower The Burj
555 m Khalifa has
(1,821 ft) been the
world’s tallest
building since
it opened
in 2010.

with ways to build even taller buildings!

Taj Mahal The Forbidden City

This beautiful Emperors of
palace in India is China lived in
the tomb of an this palace
emperor’s wife. for hundreds
of years.

139
 I want to be an
astronaut!
Do you think you’ve got what it takes to Animals were sent to
space before people.
be a space explorer? Hold onto your seat!
3...2...1... LIFT OFF!
Astronauts are
strapped in when
they sleep so they
don’t float away!

s p ace
ng in a rd!
Livi aut i s h
on
astron o life
Being
an
d i f f e rent t
i n s p ace is . S u c h as:
Life
t s o f ways
a r t h in lo r e pared
by
E pecia
lly p
so th
at
is s arth
Food ists on E time.
t
scien ts a long s
it la
s
n t t o one
fere tle
s a r e dif ork a lit
t w
Toile th. They eaner!
E a r c l
on
a v acuum t”
like o r “nigh ve to
y ” ha
’ s n o “da tronauts utine.
There ce, so as sleep ro ee
a
in sp o a stric
t
t s g et f r
nau .
kee p t
u s y astro hemselves
b t
Even t o enjoy
tim e
140
 Astronauts wear
special suits on spacewalks.
The suits give them oxygen to
breathe and protect them
from the cold.

EVA suit

Exercise is very
important in space! Floating around
In space the gravity (the force
that keeps things on the ground)
isn’t as strong. Astronauts have to
get used to things floating around.
 Flying to the Moon
In the year 1969 – while the whole planet was watching –
three brave astronauts became the first people to travel
to
the Moon. This important mission was called Apollo 11.

Ne il Buzz Mic hae l

Three American men called Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and

Michael Collins were the lucky ones to be picked for the mission.

The scientists at NASA worked

very hard to make sure the launch
went smoothly and safely.

The rocket blasted off

from a place called Cape
Kennedy, USA, in July 1969.

142
 t to the
e

Mo o
e e d ays to

n.
It took
more
th
an
thr

The rocket travelled through space to get to the Moon.

During this time the astronauts did experiments and ONE “That’
sent messages to the scientists on Earth. for SMAL s
LEAP man; on L STEP
for e GIA
mank NT
ind.
”

Finally they reached the moon! They landed on the

surface in a small vehicle called “The Eagle”. Armstrong
climbed down a ladder and walked on the surface.

Meanwhile… more than 500 MILLION people across

the world watched the Moon landing on their televisions.
Very important things about
me

o!
ell are
H w
Ho u?
yo

Right now, you’re using more than your eyes to

read this book. Your brain is working hard to help you
see these words and get them to make sense. Your
body is an amazing machine, and this section is all
about YOU and the important things in your life.

145
 The human body
Your body is an amazing machine! Inside
it are lots of parts that all work together. Skeleton
Your skeleton is made up
of lots of bones. It’s what
Brain Organs keeps your body’s shape.
All your organs have a
special job to keep
your body going.
Skull
Your skull Spine
protects
your brain.
Elbow
Liver Heart
Lungs
Your lungs help
you breathe.
Ribcage
Stomach
Your ribcage
Kidneys helps protect
some of
your organs.

Intestines Knee
Bladder

Organs Skeleton
146
 Skin
Your skin wraps around your
Muscles body to keep it safe. It’s also
Your muscles let you move. your body’s biggest organ.
You need them to run, jump,
smile, lift objects, and more!

Hair
Eyes Nose
Ear
Teeth
Mouth
Muscles
You control Chest
some muscles,
but others work Arms
on their own.

Hands
Fingers
Legs

Feet
Toes

M uscles Body
147
My blood
Everybody needs oxygen to live.
What is
You get oxygen when you breathe, blood?
Blood is a mixture of a liquid
and your blood takes it around called plasma and lots and lots
your body. of teeny tiny things called “cells”.

c kly t hrou g h tu bes cal

e ls q ui led
blo
t r av od
o o d ves
Bl se
ls
.

Platelets clot Red blood

blood to stop cells carry
you bleeding if oxygen around
you cut yourself. your body.

A drop of blood is
mostly full of red blood cells
White blood
(they’re what makes it red).
cells fight But there are also white blood
off germs. cells and platelets.
 Your HEART pumps
blood around your
body. Up to the top
of your HEAD, and
down to the tips
of your TOES.

Heart
un
d
o
ar s!
A b e ls d
lood t r av con
c ell se
60
in
o dy
b
t he

Clever cleaning
As well as delivering oxygen and
other important things around your
body, blood also helps takes away
waste that the body doesn’t want.

149
 c h i n g
Sense-ational T o u
Sometimes the world can be confusing! But our Sm elling
five main senses work together with our brain
to help us understand and interact with it.
Seeing

H ea r i n g

Tasting

You can touch and

feel things using your
hands (or any part of
your body, really).

Feathers feel soft,

but you wouldn’t want to
touch a spiky cactus.

150
Your nose picks up Both of your eyes Experts say the
smells (both nice work together to help feelings we get when
and nasty ones!) you to see the world we’re hungry, thirsty,
Without in front of you and or itchy, may be
smell you find your way around. other senses.
wouldn’t be able to Here are a few more:
taste much either.

It’s not nice to feel

pain, but it’s your body’s
way of letting you know
that something is wrong.

Shh! Your ears let you The tongue has

hear noises. They teeny tiny taste buds
Our sense of balance
never stop listening, that let us taste the keeps us upright and
even when you sleep! flavours in our food. stops us falling down.

The smallest
bone in your lt y Have you noticed you can
Sa

body is found feel if something is hot or

in your ear. cold without touching it?

eet
Sw

our
S
 Your brain Sharing work
Because the brain has SO
uses more ENERGY
much to do, the different
than any other parts all work together,
body part. even when you are asleep.

152
Thinking
My brain
Hidden inside your head, your brain
is working all the time. You need
your brain to do everything!

Feeling
emotions
Breathing Reading
Moving

Remem bering
Learning
h er .
l ot do
g al t o
lli n at
, t e w h
T he brain L E A DS the body e a rs)
body p e s a nd
arts (like your e y

Touching
Playing
Talking
153
 Sleep time
When you close your eyes and need
to rest, sleep is just the very best!

d o we need?
s leep
h
muc
w
Ho Although they sleep
A LOT, babies wake
up between naps.

Babies
Most of the time!

Almost everyone has dreams while they sleep

Sleepy animals Some mammals, such as The swift is

It’s not just people that love hedgehogs, hibernate. a very fast bird
to snooze. In fact, many This means they sleep all that can sleep
animals have unusual or through winter. while it flies!
surprising sleeping habits.

154
 zzzzzzzzz

z
Z
Why do we need sleep?
Sleep helps our body heal, grow, and
stay healthy. It also gives us energy so
we can be active throughout the day.

Rest and a good bedtime Teenagers need lots The older you get,
routine is important for of energy to grow into the less sleep you
a growing child. their adult bodies. will need.

Children Teenagers Adults

10–12 hours 8–10 hours 6–8 hours

but they don’t always remember them.

Cute koalas zzz z Giraffes don’t

zz
love to slumber. need much sleep
They sleep around at all. They usually
18 hours a day. sleep standing up!
 Good food
Food makes us feel full, happy, and
healthy (if we eat the good stuff!)
Let’s chew, munch, and chomp.
Pasta
There are
Pineapple is lots of
very sweet shapes
and juicy. of pasta.

Peas

Pineapple

Fruit Vegetables Carbs

The super cool Always try to eat Pasta, rice, potatoes,
heroes of the food your greens (and and bread are all
world, fruits are other coloured veg). foods that give you
packed with all the They make your lots of energy to
goodies that help meals tastier and run around and play.
keep you healthy. healthier.
or
s h ort f
is .
C a r bs” drates”
“ boh y
“car

156
 IN ION
SEC BI L L
TS a y a
re eaten b
he world.
people across t

Milk contai ns
Eggs help to make somet hing called
your muscle s strong . calcium that’s really
good for you.

Milk

Egg Cupcake

Protein Dairy Sweets

Foods high in A great way to keep Eating too many
protein, such as your teeth and bones fatty or sugary
beans, nuts, and healthy is by eating foods can be
meat help your body dairy – foods that unhealthy. But
repair itself and are made from milk. there’s nothing
help you to grow. wrong with an
Cheese, butter, occasional treat!
and yoghurt
are made
from milk.

157
 Let’s communicate
Telling other people what you think and how
you feel is important, so it's a good thing
there are lots of different ways to do this.
A wave can
mean hello
We all speak and think
or goodbye.
in a langua ge (there are
more than 6,000 in the world! ).
Some people can speak
lots of differe nt langua ges.

Talking is one You don’t always

of the main need words. People
ways that people can often work out
can communicate how you feel by the
with each other. look on your face.

You can sometimes

tell how a person
is feeling by the
way they act
or their body
language.

Some people talk

by making signs
with their hands.
This helps if you
can’t hear well.

158
 Wonderful writing
Reading and writing is another way
to communicate. Languages can be
written in different alphabets or scripts,
so they don't always look the same.

All these words mean “HELLO”.

Hello
Englis h Hindi
Hello!
How a
re
you?
Urdu Mandar in

Brilliant braille
Braille is a written language that uses raised
dots for letters. It helps people who can’t see
well to read with their fingers, not their eyes.

Emoji!
In digital messages, we can
Hello in braill e show how we feel with icons
and pictures as well as words.

159
 Marvellous music
There are lots of different types and
styles of music, and almost as There are lots of musical
instruments to play, but it
many ways for us to enjoy it! takes time and practice
to become very good.

Your voice and mouth

are amazing instruments.
You can use them to sing,
hum, and whistle! Music is often
written down
so you know
what note to
play next.

Singing Playing
160
 Bagpipes Although they are
Interesting are played huge, harps make
instruments in Scotland. a soft sound.
They are
The triangle is very LOUD!
simple to learn but
hard to master!

The pipa has been played in

China for more than 2,000 years.

Music can affect you in

many ways. Listening to it can
calm you down, cheer you up,
or even help you concentrate.

Sometimes, the beat

of a tune means you
just HAVE to move
and dance!

There are many

types and styles
of music.

Dancing can be
a lot of fun!

Listening Dancing
161
 Amazing art
Whether you paint, draw, take photos,
or sculpt, there are so many ways
to create beautiful things.

This statue
was carved
from one piece
of marble!

Crafts and
collage are
fun too!

Sculpture
Sculptures are a type of 3-D art.
They can be made from almost
Painting anything – from marble to rubbish!
With just a brush, some paints, and
a little practice, people can create
beautiful images on canvas or paper.

162
Photography
Cameras let you capture a
moment in time and see the
world from different angles.

Drawing
Using pencils, pens, crayons,
or even your computer, you
can scribble, sketch, and draw.

Cameras let in light and

turn it into pictures.

Mosaics
This ancient type of art is made
by sticking small tiles together
to form a bigger image.

163
 Getting better
What do we do if we’re not feeling well?
We can visit doctors and nurses! Their special
skills and instruments can make
us feel good again.

Miraculous Vaccines Stethoscope

medicine
Edward Jenner The stethoscope
These are some of discovered we can lets doctors listen
the developments in protect people to the heart and
medicine that help from some diseases lungs to see if
people to live longer by giving them a there are any
and healthier lives. safe amount of it. problems.

Transplant Ther mometer X-rays

If someone’s heart isn’t A high temperature Doctors use X-rays
working very well, they is usually a sign of to take photos of
can get a new one from fever. Thermometers your teeth and
a donor. help doctors measure bones to see if
temperature. they are broken.
164
 Prevention
Doctors are great at
making us feel better,
but an even better
way to keep us feeling Mosquito nets stop
me biting people and
good is stopping spreading diseases.
us from getting ill
in the first place!

A ntibiotics Casts New lim bs

Antibiotics are very A hard cast People who lose an
important medicines that helps protect arm or leg are able to
are used to fight nasty broken bones have a prosthetic
infections and keep them one fitted.
in the body. still so they mend Some
and heal properly. can be
controlled by the brain.

Surgery Ultrasound Cameras

Modern “keyhole” Ultrasound lets doctors look at Endoscope capsules
surgery is safer and moving images from inside the are cameras so small
less invasive than body. It’s mostly used to check you can swallow them!
surgery used to be. up on unborn babies. They let doctors see
inside your body.
165
 Purr-fect pets
Pets can live in our home or in our garden, and
they make great friends. They need lots of love
and care, but a good pet is part of the family!

Almost half of all

households in the USA
have a pet dog or cat.

Dogs Cats
Known as man’s best friend, Playful and cuddly, cats make
dogs are clever, loving, and great company around
loyal. They need daily the house. They also
walks and lots of like to run and play
gentle training. outside. Most of all,
they love to snooze!
 Birds
Birds need a big aviary to live
in so that they can fly around.
Parrots can live for 90 years, so
they are a big responsibility!

Fish
A big, clean
Chickens tank with hiding places
It’s best to keep chickens and other fishy friends
as a group of a few is important if you
hens and one rooster. want to keep fish.
Chickens need space to
wander and a nice coop
to live in.
Rabbits
Rabbits like to be stroked but
not picked up. They need
rabbit friends, lots of hay,
and a big home to run
around in.
 Fun numbers
Numbers help us to understand the
3, 2, 1… world around us. We mostly use them
lift off!
to count and measure things (and work
12.30
out when our birthday is!), but some
00 8 numbers are really special.

0 3.14 4
It may seem like nothing, Maths experts use “pi” to This number is unlucky
but try counting, telling work out difficult sums. We in China, Japan, and
the time, or keeping score shorten pi to 3.14 but it’s Korea, because it
without zero! actually MUCH longer. can sound like the
word for death.
“Pi” sounds like
“pie” but you
can’t eat it!”

26 52 60
This is the number of There are 52 weeks in a The number 60 is useful to
letters there are in year. That’s how tell the time. There are 60
the English alphabet long it takes for seconds in a minute, and
the Earth to 60 minutes in an hour.
move around
the Sun.
 11 12
1
Inventing numbers 10
The earliest known number system 2
was developed a long time ago in a
9
place called Babylonia. Today 3
8
numbers are all around us and we 4
use them for all sorts of things.
7
6 5

1 8 9 10 11 12 1 3 1 4 1
2 6 7 5
3 4 5

7 10 13
There are seven days in Our counting system is based Many people
every week. Seven is also on the number 10, probably think 13 is
a lucky number in many because we have unlucky. Some
countries. 10 fingers. buildings don’t
label the 13th
floor as 13!

88 365 ∞
In China, eight is thought to Remember this number. This symbol means
bring luck and wealth. It’s how many days you need “infinity”. It’s not a
What’s better than one to wait between birthdays! number, but it means
eight? Two of them! something that doesn’t
end. It’s impossible to
count to infinity.
169
 What’s the time?
We can’t see or feel it, but everything we do
takes time. Its most important use is for planning
our days. Does this day seem anything like yours?

Wake up,
sleepyhead! Breakfast time! It’s time for
It’s a brand You need lots of energy school. What will
new day. for the day ahead. you learn today?

Is your stomach
rumbling? It must
be lunchtime!

7am 7:30am 8:30am 12pm

Telling time There are 60 seconds There a
re 60
We can’t feel time, in a minute. That’s about minut
es in
how long it might an hou
but we can measure it. r. Abou
the tim t
These numbers help take to put on e it tak
to eat es
us to do that. your shoes. dinner.
170
 It’s time to sit
down and eat
3:30pm your evening
meal. Yum!
Time to go home.
It’s starting
What will you get up to
to get late.
this afternoon?
Time to bathe
and brush
After-school your teeth.
activities are
so much fun!

Light’s out
until tomorrow.
Goodnight!

4:30pm 6 pm 7pm 7:30pm

A whole day (including There are 7 days in a
night) takes 24 hours. week. So it’s never too
This is how long it takes the long until the weekend!
Earth to spin around once.

171
 The ant and the
grasshopper
One lovely spring day, a grasshopper was
playing his guitar, when a little ant walked by…

w h y don’t you
,
ant
t le s i ng along
L it and
“ ome
c y s ongs?”
m
to

“I m u
st prepare for the
winter
, and so should you.”

The grasshopper laughed.

That sounded like too much
work. Besides, winter was such
a long way away and he had
plenty to eat at the moment.
172
Summer came and went, and the But winter came earlier than usual that
grasshopper continued to laze about. year and the grasshopper was shocked.
The ant reminded him to prepare for He was cold and hungry, and he
winter, but the grasshopper didn’t listen. couldn’t find food or shelter anywhere.

“The little ant was right!” he thought sadly. “I must

not be so silly next year.” Luckily the ant was willing
to share with him, but the grasshopper learned
how important it is to work hard and be prepared.

173
Here are some other
very important things

These pages give you just a little peek into even

MORE amazing things that are waiting to be
discovered. So let’s turn the pages and find out your
star sign, learn the names of beetles, master saying
hello in different languages, and much, much more.

175
 Saying hello…
All across the world, people greet each other in different
ways. It’s good to know how to say hello!
English
French Hello
Mandarin
Bonjour (Hell-loh)
(bon–zhoor) Nĭhăo
(Nee–how)

Portuguese Japanese
Olá Swedish
Konnichiwa
(Oh–lah) (Kon–neech–ee–wah)
Hej
(Hay)
Spanish
Hola German
(Oh–lah)
Guten Tag
(Goot–en tahk)
Hawaiian
Alphabets Aloha
Some languages such as (Ah–loh–ha)
Japanese and Chinese
are written in different
scripts or alphabets. So
in those countries they’d Dutch
be written differently to Goed dag
(goot darg)
the way you see here.

176
…and goodbye
Now you know hello, this is what the word for goodbye
looks and sounds like in different languages.
English
French Goodbye
Mandarin
Au revoir (Good–buy)
(Oh ruhv-wahr) Zàijiàn
(Zay jee–an)

Portuguese Japanese
Adeus Swedish
Sayonara
(A–deh–oos) (Seye–on–ar–rah)
Hej då
(Hay daw)
Spanish
German
Adiós
(Ah–dee–oss) Auf
Wiedersehen
Hawaiian (Owf veed–er–zay–ern)

If you learn
Aloha
(Ah–loh–ha)
other languages
you can make
friends with
Dutch
people from all
Tot ziens
over the world! (Tot zins)

177
 Glorious colours
Our eyes are very special. Thanks to the way they let
light in, we can see a whole rainbow of colours.

Red
starfish
RED
Oranges

PURPLE ORANGE
This wheel shows how
colours go together.
Colours facing each other
(such as orange and blue)
Purple are opposites.
grapes
BLUE YELLOW Yellow
butterflies
Blue
fish
GREEN

Green
lizard

Some animals, including DOGS, see FEWER colours than us.

178
Mix and match Some toucans have
colourful bills. Animals
By mixing colours together we may have bright colours
can make new ones. Red, yellow, to scare off other animals
or to attract a mate.
and blue are called primary
colours because mixing them
creates lots of other colours.

+ =
Red Yellow Orange

+ =
Yellow Blue Green

+ =
Blue Red Purple
Other animals, such as BUTTERFLIES, can see MORE.

179
 Super shapes
Whether they have pointy edges, twisty
curves, or lots of corners, shapes are
4 equal
all around us wherever we go. edges

2-D shapes are FLAT.

You can see the whole
shape on paper. Square

4 edges

Rectangle Heart Oval

Circles and ovals
don’t have any
corners!

6 edges 3 edges

Hexagon Circle Triangle

180
 These shapes are
3-D. They are the
SOLID objects
that you can see
and touch.

Cone Cubes and cuboids Cu be

have 6 faces,
but you can’t see
them all on paper.

Cuboid Spheroid
This pyramid has
a square base and
four triangles that
meet at the top.

Sphere Pyramid
181
 Fantastic fruit
Coming in lots of shapes, sizes, and colours,
all fruits have seeds. Fruits are full of goodness,
so try to eat some every day.
Pineapple

Olives Avocado
Lemon

Papaya Banana
Grapes

Water melon Kiwi Starfruit

182
 Black berries
Apricot
Cherries

Apple Plums
Physalis

Peach Figs
Hard skin
protects
Lychees
the fruit

Clementines Tomato Blueberries

183
 Vibrant veggies
Chomping on vegetables, whether they’re
raw or cooked, is a great way of staying
healthy. Try to eat them with every main meal. Ginger

Garlic

Kale
Artichoke

Potatoes

Celery
Peas

Courgette Asparagus Cauliflower

184
 Radish
y can be pu
The rp
e. le
g
an
Kohlrabi

to
or

Carrots

o!
s
t

Ca
r ro ju
ts a r e n’t

Red cabbage

Sweet
potatoes Rhubarb

Pepper Red onion Beetroot

185
 Let’s count
1 One
elephant 2 Two
giraffes 3 Three
penguins 4 Four
ponies

5 Five
mandrills 6 Six
parrots 7 Seven
tortoises 8 Eight
starfish

9 Nine
butterflies 10 Ten
rabbits

20 Twenty
fish 30 Thirty
frogs

186
 We’ve got
lots of spots!

50 Fifty
ladybirds

100 One hundred

ants

187
 Let’s multiply
Adding up lots of the same number is much easier
and quicker when you use multiplication.
Say you have 4 lots of 2 buttons, that’s… Count them
and see for
yourself!
1 lot 2 lots 3 lots 4 lots

=
2 + 2 + 2 + 2 = 8
4 x 2 = 8 buttons
Now try finding the Using the grid
answer for these sums For “2 x 3”, put a finger
using the table.
on the big number “2” and
slide it along the line until
your finger lines up with the
2 x 3 = ? big number “3”. Where they
meet (6) is your answer!
8 x 9 = ?
4 x 6 = ? It doesn’t matter
what order you do
it in, the result
7 x 5 = ? will be the same.

188
Cheat sheet The numbers
This handy table lets you see what in white are
two numbers become when multiplied numbers multiplied
by themself!
together without having to work it out.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
3 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30
4 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40
5 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
6 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60
7 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 70
8 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 80
9 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81 90
10 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
189
 Measurements
120cm 4ft
Figuring things out, from how tall we
110cm are to how fast we can run, wouldn't be

100cm
possible without using measurements.

90cm 3ft In some countries

you would say I am 120cm
tall, but in others you would
80cm say I’m 4 feet tall!

70cm

60cm 2ft Measuring Measuring

50cm
size weight
Metric Metric
40cm Millimetres (mm) Milligrams (mg)
Centimetres (cm) Grams (g)
30cm 1ft Metres (m) Kilograms (kg)
Kilometres (km)
Imperial
20cm Imperial Ounces (oz)
Inches (in) Pounds (lb)
Feet (ft) Tons (T)
10cm Yards (yd)
Miles (mi)

Other measures The spicy heat Computer

Certain things have a special of chilli peppers memory is
measurement that's only is measured measured with
used for them. in scovilles. a system called bytes.
190
Measuring methods
There are different ways to measure the same
thing depending on where you live in the world. Kph and mph are
Some countries use a system called "metric" worked out by
and others use one called "imperial". seeing how far
something can
Thermometers
travel in an hour.
help us to
measure heat.

Measuring Measuring Measuring

liquid heat speed
Metric Metric Metric
Millilitres (ml) Celsius (°C) Kilometres per hour (kph)
Litres (l)
kilolitres (kl)
Imperial Imperial
Fahrenheit (°F) Miles per hour (mph)
Imperial
Fluid ounces (fl oz)
Cups (c)
Pints (pt)
Gallons (gal)

You use hands The speed

to work out how that a boat travels at
tall a horse is. is measured in knots.

191
 Star signs
Every person has a star sign with a special
There are twelve
symbol. Your sign depends on where the Sun different signs, which
are also part of four
was in the sky on the day you were born. special groups.

Aries Taurus Gemini

21 March – 20 April – 21 May –

19 April 20 May 21 June
(The Ram) (The Bull) (The Twins)

Libra Scorpio Sagittarius

23 September – 24 October – 22 November –

23 October 21 November 21 December
192 (The Scales) (The Scorpion) (The Archer)
 Air signs Water signs
Often curious, people born under air These people are said to be sensitive
signs are good at making friends. and good at understanding people.

Fire signs Earth signs

People born under fire signs are Politeness and getting on with
thought to be bright and strong. others are these sign’s main traits.

Cancer Leo Virgo

22 June – 23 July – 23 August –

22 July 22 August 22 September
(The Crab) (The Lion) (The Maiden)

Capricorn Aquarius Pisces

22 December – 20 January – 19 February –

19 January 18 February 20 March
(The Goat) (The Water Bearer) (The Fish) 193
 Chinese horoscopes
Every New Year in China, one of 12 animals
is celebrated. It becomes that year’s special animal
and the sign of all the babies born that year.

Rat Ox Tiger

1984, 1996, 2008, 2020 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022
Clever, funny, kind, Hard-working, Brave, strong, and
and confident. smart, and honest. fiercely independent.

Horse Goat Monkey

1990, 2002, 2014, 2026 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028
Full of energy, kind, Creative, gentle, Playful, funny,
194 and happy. honest, and dreamy. and clever.
 The Chinese
Animal personalities New Year festival
Some people believe your animal sign is in either January
influences your personality. Find the or February when the
year of your birth on the chart New Moon appears in the sky.
to see if the animal sounds like you. The celebrations can last for days!

Rabbit Dragon Snake

1987, 1999, 2011, 2023 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025
Gentle, kind, clever, Powerful, confident, Calm, chatty, wise,
and patient. and very lucky. and thoughtful.

Rooster Dog Pig

1993, 2005, 2017, 2029 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031
Honest, confident, Friendly, happy, Smart, generous,
and observant. loyal, and brave. polite, and kind. 195
 Precious gems
Beautiful and rare, gemstones come from
rocks within the Earth, but it takes lots of
time and effort to make them look pretty.

This is what some

gems look like
before being
CUT, CLEANED, Cut gems sparkle
because they have
and SHAPED. lots of facets
(surfaces) that
reflect light.
Rough ruby

Rough diamond Rough emerald

196
Diamond Citrine Heliodor Rose quartz

Topaz Garnet Fire opal Ruby

A methyst Spinel Sapphire Apatite

Peridot Tourmaline Emerald Jade

197
 Cool clouds
Big and puffy or long and wispy,
there are lots of different types
of cloud drifting through the sky. Cirrocu mulus
(sir-oh-kyoo-myuh-luhs)

Altocu mulus Altostratus

(al-toh-kyoo-myuh-luhs) (al-toh-strat-uhs)

All clouds are made

of little drops of
water or ice.

Stratocu mulus
(strat-oh-kyoo-myuh-luhs) Stratus
(strat-uhs)

Stratocu mulus Cumulonim bus Altocu mulus

198
 (Above 20,000 ft)
Above 6,000 m
High
Cirrus Cumulonim bus
(sir-uhs) (kyoo-myuh-loh-nim-buhs)

Have you ever looked

(6,500 ft – 20,000 ft)

2,000 m – 6,000m
up and seen SHAPES

Medium
Cumulonimbus
in the clouds? clouds can
bring thunder
and lightning.

(Below 6,500 ft)

Below 2,000 m
Low
Cu mulus
(kyoo-myuh-luhs)

Altostratus Cirrocu mulus Cirrus

199
 Musical
instruments
To make music you need an instrument
(or your voice!). Instruments are sometimes put Bugle
in groups based on how they make sound.
Some instruments
have strings.

Violin
Tru m pet

Tuba
Ukulele
Banjo

String Brass
200
 Pan flute

You blow
into brass
and woodwind
instruments Electric
to make sounds.
key board
Dru m

Recorder

Accordion

Cym bals

Tam bourine

Piano
Saxophone

Woodwind Percussion Keyboard

201
 Working vehicles
Our roads, fields, and building sites are full
of vehicles, but one of these might be
needed if there’s a special job to do.

Recycling
truck

Crane
Cranes are used
to build things.

202
 Quad bike

Harvester

Ambulances take A m bulance

sick people
to hospital.

Police car

Fire engine

Dump truck Bulldozer

203
 Beetle box
Found in a huge variety of colours, shapes,
and sizes, beetles are some of the prettiest
and most colourful creatures on Earth.

There are more

than 350,000
different types
of beetle.

Hercules Goliath
beetle beetle
Long
feelers

Longhorn beetle Stag beetle Click beetle

204
Giraffe weevil June bug Scarab beetle

h at most beetles have gs?

D id w t t w o pairs o f w i n
you k no
I’m a
beetle too!

Hairy jewel Scarlet lily

beetle Ladybird beetle

Hard outer
wings protect
the pair they
fly with.

Gold beetle Tortoise beetle Jewel weevil

Namib desert
Violin beetle Firefly beetle

205
 Discover dinosaurs
Here are some of the remarkable reptiles
that walked the Earth millions of years ago.

Iguanodon
(ig-GWAH-no-don)

Spinosaurus
(SPINE-oh-SORE-us)

Big horns were

probably used
for fighting
other dinosaurs.

My name is
Tyrannosaurus Einiosaurus
(TIE-ran-oh-SORE-us) (ie-nee-o-SORE-uss)

206
 Barosaurus
(BAH-roe-SORE-us)

Diplodocus
(dip-LOD-oh-kuss)
Pachycephalosaurus
(PACK-ee-sef-ah-low-SORE-us)

a s long as three bus

st es!
m o
al
s
wa
a nt
T his gi
Dread noughtus
(dread-NOUGHT-iss)

Scientists think the

Dreadnoughtus is one of
the biggest land animals
to have ever lived.

Stegosaurus
(STEG-oh-SORE-us) Sauropelta
(SORE-oh-PELT-ah)
207
 Extraordinary eggs
All baby birds hatch out of an egg. But bird
eggs come in all different shapes, sizes, and colours.

Song thrush Cuckoo

Chicken
Great auks are
extinct. They died
out nearly 200
years ago.
Quail Great auk

Kiwi eggs
are so big
that they weigh
a quarter of the
mother’s weight.

King penguin

208 Kiwi Golden eagle

 Cor morant Sparrowhawk
Some eggs are pointy
at one end so they
Peregrine don’t roll off the Tawny owl
falcon sides of cliffs.

m p h i bians, and Dunnock

h , a o lay eggs!
s
Hum mingbird fi s als
e
eb ,

at
ert es
inv til
r

I’m the BIGGEST bird

Rep

in the world so I have

the biggest eggs.

Emu Ostrich 209

 Animal babies
A lot of the time baby animals look just like
smaller versions of their parents. However,
some species look nothing alike at all!

Tiger
Butterfly

Cub
Ostrich

Caterpillar Owl

Owlet

Chick

210
 Tapir
Gorilla

Infant

Calf

Fox

Tortoise
Penguin

Cub
Hatchling
Chick
Frog

Tadpole

211
 Fantastic flags
Every country has a flag to use as a symbol
United
of who they are. The design of most flags Kingdom
has a very special meaning.
Organizations such as the United Nations
Olympics and the United flag
Nations can also have flags. Sweden

China South Korea Germany Portugal

India Malaysia France Netherlands

Japan Nepal Spain Denmark

Asia Europe
212
United States Brazil Australia South
of America Africa

Canada Ecuador New Zealand Egypt

Cuba Chile Samoa Morocco

Mexico Uruguay Fiji Algeria

Jamaica Argentina Tonga Nigeria

North South Australia Africa

America America and the
Pacific 213
 Top 10: Countries
There are lots of countries in the world. Saint Basil’s

Some are HUGE, and others are small.

Cathedral in
Moscow, Russia

The top 10…

LARGEST countries
These countries are so big, you may have to
take a plane to get from one side to the other!

1. Russia
2. Canada
3. United States of A merica
4. China
5. Brazil
A merican flag
6. Australia Christ the
Redee mer
7. India statue
in Brazil
8. Argentina
9. Kazakhstan
10. Algeria Australia

214
 Saint Peter’s
Basilica in the
Vatican City
You could fit more
than 38 MILLION
Vatican Cities into
the space of Russia!

The top 10…

SM ALLEST countries
These countries don't have much space. You can
walk through some of them in less than a day!

Tower
in San
1. Vatican City Marino

2. Monaco
3. Nauru
Formula One car
4. Tuvalu in Monaco

5. San Marino
Vervet monkey
6. Liechtenstein on Saint Kitts

7. Marshall Islands
8. Saint Kitts and Nevis
9. Maldives
10. Malta Beach in the Maldives

215
 Top 10: World
Our world is full of amazing sights, from rivers
that flow on and on, to huge deserts.

The top 10…

LONGEST rivers
These huge rivers are SO long that
Caiman
some flow through lots of countries.

1. Nile
2. Amazon Piranha
3. Yangzte
4. Mississippi
5. Yenisei
6. Yellow River
7. Ob
The Amazon
8. Paraná
A boat
9. Congo sailing along
the Nile
10. A mur

216
 Penguin in
Antarctica
It’s hard to measure
the size of deserts,
as some are getting
BIGGER and BIGGER.

The top 10…

LARGEST deserts
These dry places don’t get much (or any) rain,
and go on far further than the eye can see.

1. Antarctica
2. Sahara Bactrian
cam el
3. Arabian
4. Gobi
5. Kalahari
6. Patagonian Thorny
devil
7. Syrian The Sahara

8. Great Basin
9. Great Victoria
10. Great Sandy

217
 Top 10: Animals Mosquitoes
Some animals may be dangerous to us, but can carry
deadly Mosquito
protecting all animal species is very important. diseases.

Ten DEADLY animals Great white

It’s best to steer clear of these shark

animals. They may have a fierce bite,

deadly poison, or can spread disease.

Black mam ba (snake) I’m very strong, fast,

and aggressive.
Black widow (spider) Poison dart
frog
Blue-ringed octopus
Box jellyfish
Bullet ant Hippopota mus

Great white shark

Hippopotamus
Tarantula
Mosq uito hawk wasp

Poison dart frog Blue-ringed

octopus
Tarantula hawk wasp

218
 Giant
panda
GOOD NEWS!
Black rhino
There weren’t many pandas
left a few years ago,
but now their numbers
are rising.

Ten ENDANGERED animals I live in

rainforests, but too
There aren’t many of these animals
many are being
left in the wild, but luckily some cut down.

people are trying to fix the problem.

Black rhino Orangutan

Ring-
Giant panda tailed
le m ur
A mur leopard
Siberian tiger Siberian tiger cub
Polar bear
Luristan
Orangutan newt

Ring-tailed lemur
Luristan newt
Malagasy giant rat
Radiated tortoise Radiated tortoise

219
 C
Index camels 79, 87
Canada 45
A atmosphere 14–15 Caribbean 44
Aborigines 114–115 Aurora Borealis 14, 51 caterpillars 76–77, 210
Africa 43, 48–49 Australia 43, 54–55, China 53, 125
alphabets 168, 176 114–115 chocolate 48, 121
Alps 51 autumn 35 clouds 15, 30, 198–199
amphibians 61, 72–73 Aztecs 121 coco de mer 32
ancient Chinese 112–113 colours 178–179
ancient Egyptians 110–111 B Columbus, Christopher 126
animals, baby 210–211 bats 65, 101 communication 158–159
animals, deadly 218 bears 65, 80, 85, 97, 219 continents 42–57
animals, endangered 219 beetles 74, 204–205 countries 214–215
animals, pet 98, 166–167 Bell, Gertrude 127 crops 82–83, 120, 122
Antarctica 27, 41, 43, big cats 98–99
56–57, 81 birds 60, 68–69, 208–209 D
antibiotics 165 blood 148–149 days and nights 12, 171
apes 94, 95, 131 Braille 159 deserts 26–27, 79,
arachnids 75 brain 146, 152–153 86–87, 217
Arctic 56, 80 Buenos Aires 47 dinosaurs 62–63, 91,
art 162–163 bugs 74–75 206–207
Asia 43, 52–53 buildings, famous 138–139
astronauts 16, 140–143 butterflies 76–77, 210

220
E G I
Earth 8–39 gastropods 75 Ibn Battuta 127
earthquakes 24–25 gems 196–197 Inca 121
eggs 34, 65, 157, 208–209 giraffes 88, 155 insects 74, 76–77, 157,
electricity 37, 128 gods 119, 120 204–205
elephants 65, 89 gorillas 60, 65, 95, 211 inventions 113, 116–117,
Europe 43, 50–51 grasslands 79, 88–89 123, 128–129
Everest 21 gravity 139, 141 invertebrates 61
evolution 130 Great Wall of China 112 islands 23, 44
explorers 126–127
H L
F habitats 78–79 languages 158, 176–177
farm animals 82–83 hares 102–103 Las Vegas 44
festivals 44, 124–125, 195 heart 149 lava 22, 23
Fiji 55 heatwaves 36 lions 88, 99, 117
fire 108, 114 hello and goodbye 158,
fish 19, 61, 66–67, 92–93 176–177 M
flags 212–213 hibernation 154 Machu Picchu 47, 121
floods 36 horoscopes 194–195 Madagascar 49
food 156–157, 182–185 human body 146–147 maize (corn) 120, 123
frogs 72, 73, 211, 218 humans, early 106–109 mammals 60, 64–65, 91
fruits 33, 156, 182–183 hurricanes 37 Marrakesh 48

221
 Masai 49 North America 42, 44–45 Polo, Marco 127
Maya 121 North and South Pole primates 65, 94–95
measurements 190–191 80–81 printing 128
medicine 164–165 numbers 168–169, pyramids 111, 181
meerkats 86 186–189
Mexico 44, 125 R
monkeys 65, 76, 84, 94–95 O radioactivity 131
Moon 16, 17, 142–143 oasis 27 rain 31, 32
mountains 20–21, 51, 53, Oceania 55 rainforests 28–29, 46, 78
84–85 oceans and seas 9, 12, reading and writing 159
multiplication 188–189 18–19, 79 reptiles 60, 70–71
mummies 110, 111 Olmec 120 Richter scale 24–25
muscles 147 ostriches 69, 96, 209, 210 Rio de Janeiro 47
music 115, 160–161, ozone layer 15 rivers and lakes 79, 216
200–201 Romania 51
P Romans 116–117
N paper 113, 128
Native Americans 122–123 penguins 57, 81, 211 S
New York 45 Petra 52 satellites 14, 17
New Zealand 55 photography 163 savannah 89
nocturnal animals 100–101 planes 15, 129, 136–137 scientists 130–131
planets 10–11, 130 sculptures 162
plants 32–33, 82–83 seasons 34–35

222
seeds 32–33 Stonehenge 50 V
senses 150–151 summer 34, 173 vaccines 164
shapes 180–181 Sun 10, 12, 30, 33, 35, 39 Vatican 50
sharks 66, 92–93, 218 Sydney 54 vegetables 156, 184–185
ships and boats 118, vehicles 132–133, 202–203
134–135 T Vikings 118–119
silk 112 Thailand 53, 125 volcanoes 22–23, 117
skeleton 146 thunder and lightning 37,
skin 147 199 W
skyscrapers 138–139 tigers 65, 98, 210 water cycle 30–31
sleep 154–155 time 131, 168, 170–171 water states 31
snails 75, 96 Tokyo 53 weather 15, 36–37
snakes 71, 87, 218 tools, early 109 whales 18, 64, 90–91
Solar System 10–11 tornadoes 36 wheels 109
South America 42, 46–47 tortoises 60, 71, 102–103, wind 38–39
space 10–11, 14, 131, 211, 219 winter 35, 173
140–143 travel 132–137 World Wide Web 129
speed 96–97, 102–103 tsunamis 25
Sphinx 49 X
spiders 75, 218 U X-rays 164
spring 34 ultrasound 165
stars 10, 16, 17 Uluru 115 Z
star signs 192–193 USA 44, 45, 124 Zheng He 127

223
 Acknowledgements
The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission Lovegrove 87bl, 217bc; Kevin Moore 98c; Olena Pantiukh 69bl; Strezhnev Pavel 79tc;
to reproduce their photographs: rolffimages 36bc, 92cr; Dario Sabljak 144tc, 164br; Silver 57tr; uwimages 67bc; Alex
Vasilev 83bc. Getty: Tom Brakefield / Photodisc 80bc; Don Farrall / Digital Vision
Key: a= above; b=below/bottom; c=centre; f=far; l=left, r=right, t=top. 67tl; Frank Krahmer / Photographer’s Choice 85tl; MIXA 53tc; Photographer’s Choice
RF / Jon Boyes 170br; Rolling Earth 78; David Tipling / Digital Vision 81tc. Getty
© Jerry Young: 56bl, 84c, 89bl, 100bl, 101c. 123RF.com: Liu Feng/long10000: Images: Steve Bronstein 141bl; Don Farrall / Photodisc 59br, 89cl; Hulton Archive
112bc; Eduardo Rivero / edurivero 179tc; sabphoto c; Erwin Wodicka / ginasanders 127cra; Javier Fernández Sánchez 97tr; Michael & Patricia Fogden 96tl; Dave and
215tr. Alamy: Gary Cook 123; Chad Ehlers 51tc; D. Hurst 151br; Martin Strmiska Les Jacobs 138cl; Ingo Jezierski / Photodisc 112cl; Ralph Martin / BIA 97ca; Tse Hon
67br; Sergey Uryadnikov 98–99c. Brand X Pictures / Alamy: Brian Hagiwara Ning 155bc; Alastair Pollock Photography 97cb; Anup Shah 97c; Universal Images
174cra, 205tc. Corbis: 77tr, 127tl, crb; Don Hammond/Design Pics 224r; Frank Group 126cb; Vladimir Zakharov 139cr; Peter Zelei Images 138cl/shard; zhuyongming
Krahmer/Radius Images 26–27; Micro Discover 148tr; Ocean 6bc; Viewstock 139c. Philippe Giraud © Dorling Kindersley: 4bc. Ellen Howdon © Dorling
132–133t. © Philip Dowell: 127bl. Dorling Kindersley: Peter Anderson / Odds Kindersley, Courtesy of Glasgow Museum: 128bc. iStockphoto.com: id-work
Farm Park, Buckinghamshire 83cr; Blackpool Zoo, Lancashire, UK 49br, 80br, 81cr, (194–195all); pop_jop 175 cla, 212–213 (UK, Sweden, Spain, USA, South Africa,
81tl; British Wildlife Centre, Surrey, UK 211cr; Alan Burger 81tl; Claire Cordier 36bl; Samoa, Uruguay, Tonga, China, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Cuba, Chile, Algeria,
Bethany Dawn 34br; Greg and Yvonne Dean 100cl; Colin Keates / Natural History Argentina, Portugal, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zeland, Morocco, Mexico, Nigeria
Museum, London 196bl, 205bl; Barnabas Kindersley 181br, 200c; Dave King / The Germany, South Korea, India, France, Japan, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Fiji). Kohn
Science Museum, London 109tr, 130bc; Dave King / Booth Museum of Natural Pedersen Fox: 139cl/Lotte. Richard Leeney © Dorling Kindersley, Courtesy of
History, Brighton 65bl; Twan Leenders 73c, 73tl, 186bc, 186br, 219c; Liberty’s Owl, Search and Rescue Hovercraft, Richmond, British Columbia: 135bc. David
Raptor and Reptile Centre, Hampshire, UK 80tc; James Mann / National Motor Malin © Anglo-Australian Observatory: 16c. NASA: 14crb, 42bl, 141br, 141rl,
Museum Beaulieu 215c; Thomas Marent 216cr; NASA 10cl, 16cr; Stephen Oliver 142bl, 143c, 143cb, 143br, 195tr. Gary Ombler © Dorling Kindsersley,
145tc, 160c, 160cr, 174tl, 201cl; Gary Ombler / The Real Aeroplane Company Courtesy of Cotswold Wildlife Park: 211tc. Gary Ombler © Dorling
136br; Gary Ombler / Nationaal Luchtvaart Themapark Aviodome 105tc, 136br; Kindersley, Courtesy of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Armouries: 93bc.
Gary Ombler / Vikings of Middle England 118br, 118bc, 119bl, 119br; Gary Ombler Photolibrary: Corbis 73cr, 105tr, 137tr; Photodisc / Photolink 141tl. PunchStock:
/ Doubleday Swineshead Depot 203tc; Gary Ombler / Hastings Borough Council Photodisc / Paul Souders 27br; Stockbyte 201cr. James Stevenson © Dorling
123cr; Gary Ombler / University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Kindersley, Courtesy of the National Maritime Museum, London: 126cl.
Anthropology 112cr, 121bc, 123cr; Gary Ombler / Zoe Doubleday-Collishaw,
Swineshead Depot 132bc; Tim Parmenter / Natural History Museum, London 174c, Jacket images: Front: Dorling Kindersley: Jerry Young bcr.
174tc, 197tl, 197tcl, 197br. Linda Pitkin 19tl; Wildlife Heritage Foundation, Kent, UK
99br; Jerry Young 8tl, 80c. James Stevenson / National Maritime Museum, London All other images © Dorling Kindersley
119cr. Dreamstime.com: Carol Buchanan / Cbpix: 66c; Jakub Cejpek / Jakupcejpek For further information see: www.dkimages.com
85br; Torian Dixon / Mrincredible 130tr, 131tr, 131tc; Eric Isselee 101cl; Isselee
100cr, 186c, 186cr; Laumerle 46br; Mauhorng 152cr; Ollirg 62br; Pixworld 96br;
Rosinka 12c; Wan Rosli Wan Othman / Rosliothman 116br, 117br; Darryn
Schneider / Darryns 27br; Vladimir Seliverstov / Vladsilver 80tr; Staphy
57br; Jens Stolt / Jpsdk 77tl; Jan Martin Will / Freezingpictures 43bc,
81bl; Simone Winkler / Eyecatchlight 80tc; Yulia87 30–31
(background); Yykkaa 129cr. FLPA: Frans Lanting 69tl; Harri
Taavetti 84–85cra. Fotolia: Andreas Altenburger / arrxxx 89cr; DK would like to thank:
Kitch Bain 181tc; Beboy 22c; HD Connelly 104cra; DM7 62bl; Carrie Love for editorial assistance and
dundanim 8bc, 10bc, 171bc; Eric Isselee 65bc, 218br, 219tl, proofreading. Elinor Greenwood, Carrie Lewis,
219cr, 219br; Pekka Jaakkola / Luminis 137tr; Valeriy and Andrea Mills for additional editorial work.
Kalyuzhnyy / StarJumper 155br; Dariusz Martin Copeland, Laura Evans, Rob Nunn, Nishwan
Kopestynski 113bl; Yahia Loukkal 203bl; Steve Rasool and Lee Thompson for picture library assistance.

224