Smartypants Series
by Anushka Ravishankar and illustrated by Pia Alizé Hazarika
“Smartypants Series” by Anushka Ravishankar and illustrated by Pia Alizé Hazarika. Published by Duckbill. A series of four delightful books which explain science concepts to a curious cat called Smartypants.
The series has four books - “Gravity For Smartypants”, “The Solar System For Smartypants”, “Photosynthesis For Smartypants” and “Evolution For Smartypants”. Each of these books features an extremely curious cat who is trying to understand the concepts and has quite a few questions lined up. While the books on gravity and solar system are related to each other and have to be read in a sequence, the other two books are independent.
The topics have been explained brilliantly with just the right amount of information in an easy to understand manner with quite a bit of witty humour packed in. Quite expected given the reputation of Anushka Ravishankar. She is not called humour queen for no reason after all! And the illustrations are way too charming adding to the whole experience!
I enjoyed reading this series with my eight year old. He loved the humour and was hooked to the books. It helped him understand the topics with ease and the fun facts were much appreciated. While he knew a few simple things about photosynthesis and gravity, the rest of the things were new for him. And to see him understand the concepts in a fun and interesting way was something that appealed to me. This was so different from the conventional way in which these topics are taught. Any topic can be made interesting for children and this is a way to do it! Looking forward to more books in the series now covering many other topics.
Recommended Age
The books are apt for children aged 6 and above.
Reasons to Read
The books introduce topics in a fun and engaging manner making it an enjoyable experience for the children. Learning can be fun after all!
Where to buy from?
An independent bookstore, Funky Rainbow, from where I buy many of my books.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India (Duckbill), for review. Thank you to Greeshma and Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!