Evolution: How We and All Living Things Came to Be

I bought this book for my 6 year old, who had been asking a lot of questions about why certain plants or animals were like this, or like that. I have a degree in cellular and molecular biology, so I have a pretty good understanding of evolution, but found it hard to explain to a 6 year old. He doesn't know much about genetics, heredity, age of the earth, geology, selective breeding, or any of those things to give him a background for understanding evolution. It's a hard concept for many adults, so I was really struggling with how to start explaining it to him in a way that would make sense.This book was great. Probably a bit above the level for a 6 year old, but with lots of discussion and further examples from me as we read, he really enjoyed it and now has a pretty good idea of what evolution is and how it works.The first part of the book is an explanation of evolution and the tenets of natural selection. It is very well done, with lots of illustrations and pictures. He does a good job of breaking the concepts down in a way that kids can understand without dumbing them down to the point that they become inaccurate. Gives the kids enough information to understand that it's not magical, but not so much that it's entirely over their heads.The second part of the book is framed as a series of questions you might hear from people skeptical of evolution. He answers the questions respectfully and accurately. There is a small section (about 1/3 of a page) on religion, and he does a wonderful job explaining what science can tell us versus the role of religion. Very respectful of religious beliefs, in my opinion.My son especially loved the several pages on human evolution and had me read them to him over and over again. He had me fold down the pages so he could go back and look at them on his own. (If anyone has particular recommendations for a book on human evolution suitable for a 6 year old, please post them in the comments. I'd love to get one for him.)The last page was truly wonderful, and actually gave me chills because it summed up the wonder and delight I feel when learning about nature. I'll let you buy the book and see what he says there!

We really loved the book, including my 8-yr old child and her classmates, after I also purchased a copy for her classroom. I don't have much new to add that others haven't already said, except for two things that bug me, which I feel I should mention.The first is a drawing of two zebra-like animals--they appear the same except for being different colors--looking at each other and saying "yuck". The point is to illustrate how small changes over time in isolated populations of the same species can lead to such significant changes that the two populations are no longer able to reproduce with each other. It was impossible for me not to draw the connection with my own species. I know I don't have to tell you that we're all the same "race" regardless of our coloring, but there are still some folks who think that people who are different colors should not mate and find the idea repulsive.The second point is, I would have left out the paragraph-long section about "what science has to say about religion." The author states that science has nothing to say. Whether that's true is highly debatable, but if that's what the author thinks, then why did he bring it up? This is a science book, and it feels awkward (and defensive) for religion to be mentioned within its pages, and I felt uncomfortable reading that section to my daughter.If these two issues weren't present, I would recommend the book without any hesitation. I really hope that the zebra drawing, at least, is changed for the next edition.I wanted to point out that there's also a review of this book at Wired online, for those who might be interested.

I love this book for children as it explains evolution very well and gives examples easy enough for them to grasp. It is not for kids younger than 7 for sure, maybe even older depending on how your child is in understanding this type of stuff. I do have to explain a lot of the things in the book to my child as we read it together as she is not able to understand all the things herself at 7.5. The book goes into DNA and other things to help explain evolution so it is not just evolution per se, it really teaches the entire process of natural selection, etc. It is not too in depth, so it might be more appropriate for younger kids 7-10 than over 11.

Listen, awesome is the best word to describe this book...My 10 year old daughter was so captivated by it, that she read the first 25 pages in less than 1 hour! She loved it!As an atheist I want to teach my kids about science, history, nature and, well, facts, plain and simple facts, written by true scientists and professionals, and this book has it all. If I should name something WE didn't like as a family about this book is the number of pages in it...Just 53. Too short!!I wish I could find more books like this one about different topics, but 600 pages long, that would be even better!I recommend this book for anyone who wants to fascinate children with the facts of Evolution and help these kids stay curious about science and how our planet and every living thing in it came to be. No myths, no gods, no mermaids, no unicorns. Just beautifully explained facts!

Book was in excellent condition except for a torn page.

This is a very nice little book (in number of pages, 56, not overall size, 8 X 11). It's quite concise, but not too much so for a bright child that is interested in the subject. I would like to have seen at least a conceptual picture of the DNA molecule included. In addition, a brief mention of RNA and the bases. Children should be aware of their existence and possibly how they function in cell division and in the occurrence of mutations. A simplified description of how their function often results in traits from past generations, and not necessarily from the current generation, if well done, could help children understand what they observe in their every day life!

My son(7) loves this book great info and pictures

Wonderful book, our son is 6 but he has been enjoying a lot and so have we. Highly recommended.

Bought this for my grade 6 classroom when I had students asking me about evolution. They read it during silent reading time and are really enjoying it! The language is fairly easy to understand. My average-high readers seem to understand well, but this would not be suitable for those at a lower reading level.

This book has wonderful illustrations, accurate information, and for those with particular conflicts between science and religion, this book does not challenge this concern.

Great explanation of evolution theory