See Inside Planet Earth (Usborne Flap Book) Board book – June 1, 2008

These "See Inside" books are great fun for my daughter. She loves to lift the flaps and explore all the information within. Maybe it's the tactile sensation or maybe some element of investigation and discovery, but these books get a lot of mileage and repeat reading.

After reading previous reviews, that the book is more about global warming and pollution, I decided to pass. However, my 4-year-old boy specifically said he wanted this one, probably because he's been learning about the Earth in preschool. I ordered a used one at fairly low price, expecting the worst, not about the condition, but the content might not be what I would like my child to learn at this point. It turns out to be much better than I thought. For now, we are focusing on some certain pages, the cover (which is a very detailed and rich illustration of Asia and part of Europe), "earth in space"(we discuss about the solar system, day and night,etc. based on this page), "a blanket of gases"(basics about atmosphere and weather), and "a watery world"(just like the cover page, this page is a wonderful illustration of the world map, so much to talk about! My personal favorite page in this book.) for the other pages, I think I'll choose part of the content for my child for now.Thanks to all previous reviews. Would I be happy about the book if I buy it at full price? No. Most things we discussed based on the book are mentioned and illustrated in other "see inside" books, and I don't feel comfortable to have my child get the impression that we should take the train instead of an airplane because the train produces less CO2, or we don't need to flush the toilet every time.... But at a discounted price and (luckily) perfect condition, I would say the rich and detailed illustration worth the money.

My 3 year old son is a huge fan of Usborne books. So educational and so many different things that can be learned. Even if the books are sometimes a bit advanced for him, he always finds something creative to learn from it!

Book was in awesome condition. Flaps are sturdy and information is awesome

I was expecting a book about the workings of our planet. Instead, I and my four year old were treated to a diatribe about how humans are destroying the earth. Would not recommend!

Judging from the title, I thought "See Inside Planet Earth" would be a great reference for my kids in our unit about Earth's layers, plate tectonics, earthquakes, mountains, volcanoes, and types of rock. I was wrong.Does this book have lots of information? Yes.Unfortunately, almost all of it has nothing to do with the title of the book. This book ought to be titled, "Saving Planet Earth," or "Your Effect on the Planet," or "Global Warming 101." Then, when teaching ecology, it'd be easy to see that this is the resource for you.Of the 81 flaps to lift, 4 of them actually allow you to "see inside planet earth." That's .05% That's right. Half a percent.Whereas 36 of them are explicitly about global warming. That's 44%.Am I denying the existence of global warming? No. But I am pretty ticked off that Katie Daynes and Usborne Books didn't call a spade a spade. So ticked that I actually counted the 81 flaps!

We thought the book would be great for our 4 year old but instead the book introduces a bunch of concepts, that are hard for a 4 year old to process. About half of the book talks about the problems of the world from global warming, rising oceans, dolphins being killed, destruction of hurricanes, pollution, etc. It is very negative. Depending on your child it could give them anxiety depending on how they could process this information.Not that we don't want our children to learn about problems of the world, but it doesn't seem right to read book like this to a very inquisitive 4 year old right before bed.Would have rather seen a book that explores the wonders of the earth and encourage the protection of it, versus the chaos of it.Disappointed.

It's an Usborne (flap) book so you probably know it's going to be packed full of easy to access information and colourful diagrams and illustrations. (I grew up with Usborne and cherished my dog eared collection from 'Ghosts and UFOs' to puzzle and science titles.)At the end of the day, if you feel it important to let your kids absorb what is happening to the earth with regards to not only the 'debatable' theory of global warming but also more clearer cut issues of pollution, dwindling resources, deforestation, species extinction, etc and it's effects, then get it.However, if you're uneasy about all this, the book will upset you, so you should probably stay away from it and not let your kids near it.I docked it a star as I would have liked to have seen more depth to geological topics like earthquakes, volcanoes and other natural stuff "inside planet earth".