Some six-year-olds may be daunted by chapter titles such as “Imperfections of the Geological Record”, and “Mutual Affinities of Organic Beings”, not to mention an appendix that covers “Epigenetics” and “Comparative Embryology”. But Radeva wears her erudition lightly, and her breezy style will sweep even the less confident readers along (“we’ll never know just how weird and wonderful many extinct species might have been!”). The result is a triumph of concision that appeals both to the budding young scientist and to the adult who has given up hope of ever reading Darwin in the original.
For five- to eight-year-olds, meanwhile, from multitalented molecular biologist and graphic designer Sabina Radeva comes an entrancing picture‑book retelling of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. It is filled with informative, beautifully designed diagrams and maps... Salient quotations from the original book accompany clear, careful explanations of key concepts; the appendix cogently addresses misconceptions, as well as areas in which Darwin’s hypotheses have been outstripped by new scientific knowledge.
