Ouch! Tales of Gravity (Kate Simpson, illus by Andy Hardiman, A&U)
How do you explain something as complicated as gravity to a young audience (five-year-olds and above)? Well, humour certainly helps. The narrator in Ouch! Tales of Gravity is knowledgeable and personable, creating an enjoyable rather than purely didactic scientific exploration of the phenomenon. The illustrations, examples and asides throughout are all relatable for a young audience (for example, one child ‘discovers’ gravity by accidentally knocking a cookie jar off a shelf) and always imaginative (in space, you can’t eat a bowl of cornflakes). There are a couple of jumps in logic that remain slightly opaque (why do things weigh more as they become closer to the sun?) but on the whole the book does a great job of breaking down something sophisticated into smaller, digestible ideas that are well described and illustrated. The distinctive voice integrates fun explanations with factual details, building up a layered understanding of one significant part of our universe. Some extra facts (and even a simple experiment) are appended—as is becoming standard with children’s nonfiction picture books—and, like the body of the book, are engaging and easy to take in. A good school resource, Ouch! would be equally suitable on the shelf at home, where it will hold its own against narrative fiction.
Anica Boulanger-Mashberg, an editor and writer, is a bookseller at The Hobart Bookshop.
Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.
