Ask Pippa

2008 Fall-Winter: What's New in Fiction?

titanic08

Titanic, by Jim Pipe ($19.95, Firefly). This is the ultimate book for kids who are obsessed with the Titanic story. Its a big book, jammed packed with details about the Titanic, stories about some of the passengers, and has loads of surprises. You'll find out all sorts of details about this huge passenger ship that wasn't supposed to sink – but did. There are details about how the ship was built, what passenger rooms looked like, and details about the sinking. There are all sorts of special features that will keep you busy for hours. Some of the pages have envelopes on them which contain things like menus and tickets in them. There is even a poster you can pull out to put on your wall. This is terrific value for an unusually great quality book. For readers 8 and up.

The author: Jim Pipe writes non-fiction books for kids and lives in Ireland.


robotsyes08

Robots, by the editors of Yes Mag ($16.95, Kids Can). This is the ultimate beginners guide to robots -- what they are, what they do, what their origins are,and more. In a book that is only 47 pages, you find out all sorts of amazing facts about robots. For example, did you know that the word 'robot' comes from the Czech word robota meaning forced work and drudgery? The word was first used in a play in Russian in 1921. Robots come in a variety of shapes and sizes. And no, most real-life robots do not have arms and leg -- many have wheels or treads, or stay in one spot. They are are used in industry, are used for exploring, and even in some areas of health care. This is a book that is hard to put down - until you've actually read it to the end. It's also pakced full of photographs of real-life robotos. Great for kids and robots, aged 7 and up.

The author. Yes Mag is a totally awesome science magazine for kids.