What Came First?
by Kit Frost, illustrated by Aaron Cushley
Interest age: 6 to 8
Reading age: 6 to 8
Published by Red Shed, 2025
About this book
What’s older – Mount Everest or sharks? Did flushing toilets come before toilet paper (unbelievably: yes! By the Minoans, approximately 3500 years ago!) What was invented first – the can or the can opener? (The can, with a whopping 48 years before the invention of the can opener. Puzzle that one!)
Our world is full of incredible things, from natural features to amazing inventions and customs that we take for granted now. But we might not always be aware of the order in which these amazing things happen.
Fortunately, What Came First sets out a useful timeline showing young readers the sometimes surprising order of events, with lovely illustrations and several quirky “which came first?” questions per page.
The level of text is accessible for mid-primary readers, and there’s an illustrated timeline at the back of the book that is useful for imagining all the things mentioned in an overview. Lots to learn here and a perfect book for dipping into.
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You Are History
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