Books for children
PZ Myers reviews a book on evolution for children.
People keep asking me for books on evolution for their kids, and I have to keep telling them that there is a major gap in the library. We have lots of great books for adults, but most of the books for the younger set reduce evolution to stamp collecting: catalogs of dinosaurs, for instance. I just got a copy of a book that is one small step in filling that gap, titled Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Beby Daniel Loxton. It’s beautifully illustrated, and the organization of the book focuses on concepts (and misconceptions!) of evolution, explaining them in manageable bits of a page or two. The first half covers the basics of evolutionary theory — a little history of Darwin, the evidence for selection and speciation, short summaries of how selection works, that sort of thing. The second half covers common questions, such as how something as complex as an eye could have evolved, or where the transitional fossils are. The book is aimed at 8-13 year olds, and it’s kind of cute to see that most creationists could learn something from a book for 8 year olds.
Story continues: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/02/evolution_how_we_and_all_livin.php
The BHA has pages of recommended books for children on science, evolution specifically, and the meaning of Humanism. See www.humanism.org.uk/education/recommended-resources and http://astore.amazon.co.uk/britishhumani-21
