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Raisie Bay

lonely planet kids

Hidden Wonders -book review

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Hidden Wonders – A lonely Planet Kids Guide to the planet’s wildest, weirdest places

Hidden Wonders, book cover

Hidden Wonders
For readers age 9-12
November 2019 | £14.99 | 1st Edition
240mm x 185mm | 240 pages | full colour
Hardback | ISBN: 9781788683258

Book is currently reduced from £14.99 to only £8.99!

The Blurb

Take a journey into the unknown and discover the planet’s wildest and most wonderful sights. Paddle through the eerie glowworm caves of New Zealand, ride with the wild horses of the Namib desert, swing off the end of the world in Ecuador, and be amazed at hundreds more wonders you never knew existed!

This travel companion for the incurably curious is your guide to finding the world’s most amazing secret places. So grab your compass and let’s get started as you explore the far corners of our world. Start your adventure in the west at Hawaii’s Pineapple Garden Maze, before travelling along the line of longitude to Vanuatu’s underwater post office.

Get ready to bungee jump off a road to nowhere in the Brazilian jungle, or lose yourself in the world’s largest maze. Whether deep underwater in a prehistoric grotto or high on a cliff at the tip of a rock troll’s tongue, afloat on waters as pink as a rose or swimming with pigs on a sandy beach, adventure awaits around every corner. 

Our Verdict

A lovely hardback book with quality paper and gorgeous illustrations. This book would make a lovely gift for any chid aged 9 or over. It’s recommended up to 12 years but it’s one of those books that will interest anyone of any age.

With loads of photographs and short stories, it’s easy to dip into and find something interesting to read. A lot of these places you will have probably never heard of. And there is a whole 240 pages to digest. It will be a book that’s treasured for a long time.

You can read all my other book reviews here : Raisiebay’s Library

Disclosure: This book was gifted in return for my honest review.

Unfolding Journeys from Lonely Planet Kids – review and give away

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As you know, here at the Raisie Bay household we love our books. We’ve been a big fan of Lonely Planet Kids books for quite a while, despite us not being big travellers. There are other ways of finding out about the world.

The book I am reviewing today is Unfolding Journeys – Following the Great Wall

ISBN: 9781786571977 Language: English
Authors: Stewart Ross, Victo Ngai
16 pages, 16 pp colour | Dimensions: 934mm x 305mm

“From the dusty desert of Gansu province to the rolling waves of the Yellow Sea, this amazing journey takes you past flaming mountains and ancient wonders. Watch out for mighty fortresses, giant pandas and the extraordinary Army of Terracotta Warriors.  Along the way you’ll discover breathtaking wonders of nature, visit modern China, and see how the traditions and landscape of the Great Wall are changing. You’ll also encounter fascinating ancient Chinese monuments and amazing creatures living near the Wall.”

Created in consultation with William Lindesay OBE – author, presenter, geographer, researcher and leading non-Chinese expert on the Great Wall.

The first thing you notice about this book is that it doesn’t read like a normal book by turning the pages.  It starts off with an information page and fact file and then you are off on your journey along the Great Wall of China. As the book unfolds each part of the journey is marked with short facts which are numbered 1-49. If you want to find out more detail you can look up the number on the reverse side. By the time you have finished you will have unfolded the pages of the book into an eight page frieze of the Great Wall, with all the detailed facts listed along the back.

The book would be a great learning tool for a pupil wanting more information on the Great Wall. It would look good pinned up on a wall or board for reference in a classroom. The frieze is illustrated throughout making it attractive as well as factual.

The book is aimed at children aged 7 plus and is priced at £12.99, although at the time of publishing this post it can be purchased for just £8.70.

The Book I am going to give away is Unfolding Journeys – Secrets of the Nile.

ISBN: 9781786571052 Language: English
Authors: Stewart Ross
16 pages, 16 pp colour | Dimensions: 230mm x 305mm

“From the golden beaches of the Mediterranean, travel upstream to explore the cultural, historical and natural wonders of ancient and modern Egypt. Find out about Egyptian pharaohs and explore their treasures, tombs and mummies; visit modern Egypt and see how the landscape of the Nile is changing; discover the Pyramids and other wonders of the ancient world; and encounter some of the exotic creatures that make the Nile their home.” 

Created in consultation with Anthony Sattin – award-winning author, journalist and fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.



If you would like the chance to win a copy of this book please fill in the gadget below.

Terms and Conditions

1. UK only (sorry)

2. Giveaway closes  27th July 2017

3. Entries will be validated according to the rules of entry
4. There is 1 prize of a Lonely Planet Kids Book
5. The data of anyone that enters won’t be passed on to any third parties or used for any unsolicited marketing communications.
6. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook or any other social media.
7. The winner will be randomly chosen, and will be shown on this post, with further notifications may be shared on social media.
8. The winner will be notified via email, and will need to respond within 4 weeks otherwise a further winner will be drawn.
9. Prize will be sent out within one week of receiving e-mail details via the supplier.
10.If the prize is not available an alternative may be sent of the same value.

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Letting the Kids Explore With Lonely Planet Kids – Review

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My kids love books, they love reading stories and learning about things. They always love the books they get from Lonely Planet Kids and learning about the world around them.

We were sent three Lonely Planet Kids Let’s Explore books which my kids enjoyed during the last school break.

The books we received were;
Let’s Explore Desert
Let’s Explore Mountain
Let’s Explore City

First Expressions

The paperback books have 48 pages and 6 pages of stickers. 
The pages are full of fun and activities and the illustrations are great. The kids were really excited to receive the books and get on with the activities.

Readability

Suitable for readers 5+ these books will appeal to younger and older children. The story is told in short paragraphs on large pages full of colour and activity. All my children, ages 6, 9 and 11 years enjoyed the story and were able to read unaided.

The Story


Each book is about two characters, Marco, who is fascinated by maps, and Amelia, who loves technology and gadgets. They travel all around the world through cities, up mountains and across deserts. Solving problems and learning about the places they visit along with their young readers. 
In Let’s Explore Desert they ride on camels across the wide dusty desert and get to travel along the river Nile. They also discover dinosaur fossils and camp out under the stars.
In Let’s Explore Mountain, Marco and Amelia get to ski in the Alps and ride around Montana’s Rocky Mountain taking in the serene Swift current Lake.They also climb to the top of Mount Everest and ride a train through the Himalayas. 
In Let’s Explore City, they visit many cities and have adventures in New York, Paris and Sydney to name a few. 

The Verdict

At just £5.99 I think these books are worth the cost, they are jam packed with activities to keep kids happy and learning. I love my kids to learn about other places in the world. There are more than 250 stickers in each book and lots of pages to decorate with them. There are also many puzzles like word, searches and also colouring pages to complete. My kids were occupied for over an hour and they still went back later to complete some more.
To see the rest of the Lonely Planet Kids books please check out their website.

Disclosure: We were sent the books to review in return for our honest opinion. All thoughts and opinions are our own

Talk of the Town

Read With Me

Lonely Planet Kids – Cities

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I have been sent two fabulous Lonely Planet Kids books to review all about Cities.

How cities Work is a fantastic interactive book with lots of flaps to lift and unfolding pages to see inside buildings and under the streets. 
Children will love to see how cities work from the stinky sewers to the skyscrapers. Each page is packed with information and there is loads of fun to be had by checking what’s under the flaps. Some of the pages just keep unfolding creating a huge view with so much to see learn.

Check out what is going on in a skycraper building and lift the flaps to find out what is happening behind the windows.

Watch how pages unfold and unveil a wealth of discovery.

How Cities Work is a hardback book of 24 pages. The illustrations are by James Gulliver Hancock. It’s aimed at readers aged 7+ and priced at £12.99
The second book is The Cities Book and throughout the pages discover interesting facts about many cities around the world, from Aucklan, Beijing and Copenhagen all the way through to Zanzibar town. Young readers are taken on an incredible tour through 86 of the world’s greatest cities. 
Bright colourful pages full of photos, illustrations and maps take your child on a trip of a lifetime. 
The Cities Book is a hardback book with 212 pages. It is aimed at readers aged 8+ and priced at £14.99
From Saturday 19th to Sunday 20th November, Lonely Planet Kids will be at an inspirational Pop up Photography Exhibition with a whole host of child friendly travel work shops and activities. It’s taking part at the Boxpark at Shoreditch and is free entry.
The entire exhibition runs from 8th to 20th November 
Where? Boxpark Shoreditch, London, UK (unit 26, boxpark.co.uk)
What time? Mon-Wed and Fri-Sat 11am-7pm, Thurs 11am-8pm, Sun 12pm-6pm
Entry: Free
Disclosure: I was sent the two Lonely Planet Kids Books to review free of charge. All thoughts and opinions are my own and I have not been paid for this post.