Had a chance to catch up on reviews I missed - here is a lovely review of the Magic of Seasons by the guys over at Armadillo Magazine

The Magic of Seasons

Vicky Woodgate, pub. DK Books

On the front cover of this book, under the title, it says “a fascinating guide to seasons around the world”, and this is truly saturated with a wealth of information about so many topics that its double- page glossary and index do not do it justice. Over 31 chapters, Woodgate explores subjects as diverse as how the Earth was formed, astronomy, and meteorology to folklore, human health, and animal and plant behaviour. Magnetic fields, seasonal food, climate change, fungi, Seasonal Affective Disorder, the solar system, and the different types of seasons experienced around the world are all discussed along the way.

Woodgate uses small paragraphs scattered across the highly illustrated spreads to communicate a lot of complex information and ideas in a way that keeps the reader engrossed and involved. She uses lots of puns, exclamations, (yippee, amazing!) and questions to the reader in her relaxed chatty breezy writing style. She continues this fun, interactive approach by displaying information in many formats including quizzes, statistics, practical tips, ideas for activities, timelines and in one amusing section a gallery of portraits of weather pioneers in the form of cats. Ander Celsius is depicted as a white and black cat dressed in a powdered wig and cravat. This cat is Mimi who appears a lot within the book, with one activity being to count the number of times she appears, as she guides us through the “seasonal adventure across our planet” because “cats are very good at predicting changes in the weather”. In one section, explaining a theory of how the earth was created by a proto-Earth crashing into the planet Theia, Mimi is shown in an astronaut’s helmet saying how this is the most widely accepted explanation as we cannot know for sure.

Mimi is also the guide to Woodgate’s other non-fiction book The Magic of Sleep. Having her as an interactive character involved in not just explaining ideas and topics but also engaged in activities and speaking directly to the reader makes this an unusual non-fiction book that is bursting with information in a very fun, enjoyable, and warm manner.

Natalie J. McChrystal Plimmer