Not For Parents How to be a World Explorer (Lonely Planet Not for Parents)
This title from the Not for Parents travel series is a “training manual” for children wishing to become world explorers. Each of the first six chapters lets readers explore different biomes, from the thickest jungles to the deepest oceans. This includes the air—how’d you like to learn to crash-land a plane? The final two chapters give navigation tips, survival rules, and warnings. Each glossy double-page spread is busy with illustrations and text: some spreads give short descriptive information about places, while others provide interesting historical bits about famous explorers, and still others give instructions for becoming an explorer. While not a “real” travel guide, the book is fun and educational, and it would engage and expand a child’s imagination. The editors offer a disclaimer at the end in case any facts are wrong, as well as an advisement that parental supervision is required. That won’t stop this from being frequently read. Grades 4-6. --J. B. Petty