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The True Book series is an older book series, from Children’s Press, giving basic information and simple text, with many volumes suitable for a child just learning to read. Some of the titles have entered the public domain and Plumfield Press has started to reprint them in nice paperback editions using high-quality glossy paper and computer-graphic-refreshed color illustrations. This review covers two of the easy-to-read titles available from Plumfield Press, which can be characterized as learn-to-read books but using non-fiction, not fiction. A child can learn to read while at the same time learning high-interest organized facts about the natural world that God has made for us. The scientific material in these books is not dated at all but is basic for a child’s understanding of the natural world.
The True Book of Air Around Us by Margaret Friskey starts with basic information about what is the atmosphere, what is the definition of wind, and what clouds are, physically. The rest of the book focuses on weather events such as hurricanes, lightning, thunder, rain, fog, hail, sleet, snow, and concludes with miscellaneous facts about air. Particularly noteworthy are very nice, simple explanations of why the sky is blue and why the sunset is red. The child reader will have to wait until sophomore college physics to be faced with more detailed explanations in terms of sunlight scattering from air molecules! Overall, the text is great, with simple explanations for many things the child sees around them. Any book that enables the world around the child to be more comprehensible strengthens rationality and reduces credulity. The illustrations by Katherine Evans are not my favorite in this series, though they do remind me a bit of Jeanne Bendick’s illustrations in her science books. The illustrations are, however, effective in helping the child to understand the text.
The True Book of Farm Animals by John Lewellen tells a delightful story of what life is like on an American family farm, which from all reports is fast disappearing. That would diminish US culture. I grew up surrounded by dairy farms – I wish I had read this book when I was just learning to read! The information the author gives about pigs not over-eating and always choosing the right foods was new to me and overthrows the modern conception of pigs. I really liked how the daughter was respectful to her father and how the text was respectful of farmers. I think this society does not appreciate farmers the way it should. Try living without food for a few days! When I was at Michigan State living in a dormitory, there was a student taking a two-year agricultural technology course. The other students tended to tease him as being “just a farmer.” He was amazed when I said that I had grown up around farms and farmers and greatly respected the hard job they do that takes a lot of intelligence. The illustrations by Dwight Mutchler are gentle, realistic, and just a bit fuzzy that tends to add warmth for the reader. I was reminded of pictures made by the famous illustrator Garth Williams. With the combination of interesting but simple text accompanied by tender illustrations, a child will learn a lot from this book while improving his/her reading skills.