Flying Eye Books are an absolute belter of a publisher in many ways AND still their non-fiction texts stand out as some of the very best out there. The Code of Life is one of my favourite types of non-fiction book as it takes a very niche subject and drills right into it. You can’t help but feel super clever after reading it.
I found the presenting of the history of how we came to know about DNA a fascinating story in which many people worked on an idea over time. It is truly an example of standing on the shoulders of giants from Monks in Austria to Scientists studying flies in America to the present day. Starting with the history before moving onto modern day developments and examples of how DNA impacts on us as humans made perfect sense.
The way the illustrations and scientific diagrams are used to tell the story of DNA, as well as educate the reader, is brilliant. I have to admit that I felt the content was so comprehensive; the fact it didn’t shy away from being jam packed with technical terms means you could use this as part of KS3 & KS4 revision. To be honest, I gave it to my GCSE taking daughter to help her with her mocks.
Now for the teacher bit. Of course, as a non-fiction book, there is so much information that you could use it enhance your science units on evolution and inheritance, however if I had to pick out a single page it would be the one about cancer. Although addressing such an issue can be tricky – there are great books like A Story About Cancer – it is something that children may be helped to understand from a factual standpoint. A double page spread on ‘mistakes’ that can happen presents the information in a clear manner without any emotive language. Explaining the science behind something would go a long way to help some children process a situation they may be experiencing.
A book filled with learning – crack the code of life.
The Great British Bookworm 