August Book of the Month - The Biographic Series

I'll be the first to admit that we don't read a lot of non-fiction books in our house. Funnily enough this was something that was picked up on in my daughters' reports, they were asked to broaden their horizons when it comes to choosing their next book to read. So when I was asked to review a selection of books from the new Biographic series, this question couldn't have come at a better time at all.

This new book series takes a look at some of the world's greatest thinkers and creatives from around the world but in a way that really grabs even the most reluctant reader's attention. Packed with a huge 50 facts including dates, thoughts, habits and achievements, they make use of infographics and timelines to portray these, little snapshots presented in an entertaining manner whilst remaining utterly informative.

My eldest daughter has kindly compiled a review of her thoughts on this essential collection:

The Biographic books are works of art in every sense of the word. The illustrations give the perfect mood for every page and the words on those pages create a portal into the worlds from important figures from Frida Kahlo to Winston Churchill. These books have got two of my sister's a lot more interested in history as well as prompting my younger sister and I to re-watch the Labyrinth thanks o the David Bowie Biographic.

My favourite of these books so far is Frida Kahlo. I had already learnt a bit about her life in my art lessons but now I've come to see her as an extremely inspiring character. After all her hardship in her life, she still managed to be an inspiration to many female artists as well as being a great inspiration to herself too.

One thing that I particularly applaud with these books is their ability to interest many age groups. The bright imagery and large fronts on facts is great for younger audiences. At the same time it presents the information in an interesting way so that a non-fiction book can be more appealing to children more my age (12+). Most books are only able to interest certain people but through giving these to my siblings I can confirm these books actually multi-task.

Another idea I like is the infographics. They allow the reader to recognise the person in question in more detail with a set of icons. I think this could be really helpful to people who don't recognise the person but may look at an image of something in an infographic and remember something about them as it jogs a memory. I don't think this has been used before in books of this kind, it's a really helpful addition to an already amazing set of books.

The final thing I would like to point out is using a fictional character in a series about influential people. It is an odd choice but a good one. Sherlock was influential in the field of crime and using him in one of these books was truly ambitious. I'd love to see more of this type of book added to the series.

All in all, I adore these books and I'm positive many others will as well. I would recommend these books for anyone that can read! To be blatantly honest, I'm now convincing my dad to read about Winston Churchill as he loves a bit of history. In the future I would love to see a book about Marie Curie or perhaps someone in the medical field. If I were psychic I'd predict these books a bright future.

I think you can see from this review just why I chose this series as my 'book of the month' rather than a singular book. With a great mix of knowledge presented not only on a timeline but also using certain context and cultures of the times surrounding each icon. The diagrams and charts manage to provide us with certain trivia that we perhaps wouldn't even consider otherwise.

With twenty books in the series already, I'm hoping they'll decide to create many more. These would be great to use in schools, a helpful tool for project based work. Seeing great lives in graphic form, Biographic books will quickly become essential guides to help readers learn more about some wonderfully inspirational people throughout history.