See Inside Recycling and Rubbish: An Usborne Flap Book

Author: Alex Frith
Pub: Usborne Publishing
Price: £9.99
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Launched at the Bywaters recycling facility in March, this ‘lift the flap’ book comes with great credentials: the University of Northampton’s Dr Margaret Bates, waste expert and Resource Hot 100 favourite, was a consultant on the content and it’s an Usborne title.

See Inside Recycling and Rubbish is aimed at children 6+ and that seems just about right. I had thought my two-year-old would at least appreciate the ‘flaps’, but they are a bit too fiddly and there are a few too many (60 in total!) to keep a young one entertained throughout. However, my husband found it fascinating and said that he learned a great deal!

With brightly coloured, engaging illustrations and characters by Peter Allen, this is a very busy book, packed full of information on recycling and resource recovery that will entertain older children, while hopefully teaching them about where their rubbish goes – from the bin to the sorting factories and recycling centres – and what they can actively do to help the environment, all presented in a postive, non-preachy manner.

The 16 pages cover in detail how various materials – glass, metal, plastics and paper – are recycled and what happens to the rubbish that can’t be.

It also includes a large, fold-out page showing the machines that separate materials in recycling centres and I’ve noticed
from my experience over the years that children (and big kids!) LOVE machines.

All in all, See Inside Recycling and Rubbish is an informative, fun book to get children interested in recycling from a young age – and that can only be a good thing.