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The Variety of Life

by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Lorna Scobie

Interest age: 4 to 6
Reading age: 5+

Published by Hodder Children’s Books, 2017

  • Non-fiction

About this book

Did you know there are 400,000 species of beetle but only eight species of bear? Jam-packed with fun facts and figures, this is a glorious celebration of our world by non-fiction specialist Nicola Davies.

There is something to delight on every page and the layout is clear, so it's easy to read these fascinating facts about mammals, birds, reptiles and lots more. You can learn the scientific names, while the glossary at the back of the book is a helpful addition for the reader.

Accompanied with stunning illustrations by Lorna Scobie, the book encourages children to treasure the world’s biodiversity and handily indicates which species are threatened by extinction, to help children understand the importance of looking after our planet.

About the author

Nicola Davies is the author of more than 50 books for children: fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Her work has been published in more than 10 different languages and has won major awards in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany.

Nicola trained as a zoologist, taking a degree in Natural Sciences from King's College, Cambridge. She spent some years as a field biologist and studied humpback and sperm whales, and bats, before joining the BBC Natural History Unit as a researcher and then presenter.

Following the start of her writing career, Nicola became a senior lecturer in creative writing, at Bath Spa University but has been writing full time for over a decade. She now regularly runs workshops for children and adults to help them find their voices as writers and advocates for nature. In 2017, she was the first recipient of the SLA’s award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Non-fiction and in 2018 had four picture books longlisted for the Greenaway Award.

Find out what Nicola Davies is up to as our Writer in Residence

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  • Non-fiction books about Nature, for younger children

    Non-fiction books are not only a great way to introduce younger children to learning about the natural world, but also to introduce concepts such as global warming and looking after the environment. From flora- and fauna-themed early learning books to detailed studies of species and habitats, these non-fiction nature books are perfect for any young inquisitive minds.

  • Books about biodiversity

    Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth in all its forms, and there are many. From miniscule bacteria to colossal blue whales or from tiny flowers to giant redwoods, every living thing on our planet has its own unique role in the global ecosystem.

  • Animal non-fiction

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