Are the Horrible Science books any good? (For a 7-8 year old)

[Legacy]

DS (nearly 8) is into non-fiction in a big way, and is a very competent reader.

He's read lots of the Usbourne non-fiction books and enjoyed them, and I wondered if the HOrrible SCience stuff would be suitable for him, or if it's too old.

I'm not sure it's still available new, but I've seen lots for sale on eBay.

Any experience? How are they written - are there lots of pictures etc too?

My dd1 has been reading them since she was about 7.6 i think, and she is now 9 and absolutly loves them, and the Horrible Histories ones. She has read some of the books over and over again, and has some of the free cd's from the paper on her mp3 player.

My dd age 7 loves these and all other grotesque things.They are really quite informative and an excellent disscusssion point for you and your ds

They still sell them new as I had a cold caller trying to flog them to me this week! The Book People tend to sell them in sets or Wilkinsons often have them on offer.

OK - brill - sound perfect!

dd loves them (she's nearly 7). The more gross ones the better it seems .

They are packed full of science info - I'm sure a lot of it goes over their heads at their age but they seem to absorb a bit of it (and remember key facts etc.).

The presentation is similar to Horrible Histories (if you've seen them) - they make my eyes want to bleed reading them (there's so much on a page) but dd seems to find them fine!

Yup - all the Horrible series - all briliant - pretty accurate.

They are doing Science magazine at the moment as fortnightly partwork I think (well we are paying for one)

DS (7) absolutely loves them. Really recommend.

I'm a bit confused - are they books (like the Horrible Histories ones) or magazines, or both?

I've seen lots of them on eBay which look like collectable mags with binder etc.

Is that what you meant by partwork Noodle?

If so, where do you get them from?

I work in this field... Horrible Histories are very funny and great for getting children reading (especially boys) but I think they do fall down on accuracy in places and they also (especially those by terry deary) tend to have a lot of value judgements about teachers which is not v constructive (eg your teacher wants you to read boring stuff etc). Also they have no index which can be frustrating. I'd give him them but also have good big factual encyclopedias handy for cheking facts and looking things up.

there are both Horible Science books, and magazines (partwork). DS loves the books, and I think they are better value.

Snowleopard - thanks - but I was really more interested in the Horrible Science series - would your comments be the same?

We use lots of encyclopedias/ textbooks etc for homework and looking things up, but this was more for something that DS would happily read on his own for 'pleasure' IYSWIM - he often wakes up at 6 am and reads for an hour nefore getting up, so I like to have vast quantities of suitable and enjoyable reading material around !

Sorry Legacy I just automatically referred to them as that - yes I mean the whole series including history, science, geography etc. Yes they are a really good read, I think he'd love them by the sound of it.