Lonely Planet Kids: Teaching kids how the world works in colourful goodness!

Why am I always surprised at how Lonely Planet Kids continues to release gorgeous, colour books that pretty much scream Read Me to young readers?

Yes, they’ve done it again.

Airports Board Book, Trains Board Book and Cities Board books

My nephews like to pretend that the only things that interest them are dinosaurs, but the reality is, they (thankfully, because we are worried the dinosaur thing might be getting out of control) jumped on these when I showed them to them. 

These brightly coloured gems proved to be very interesting to little people who can be easily distracted by dinosaurs on TV. The board books are sturdy, so whatever two little boys can do, they’re going to survive it.

I liked that Airports, for instance, takes readers everything they have to do to get on a plane, which if you’re a kid about to head to an airport, you have to admit, it’s got to be a little bit scary the first time. Or, if your young reader has already been on a flight, like my nephews, there’s a thrill in recognising what they’ve already done in the page of a book. 

Cities is a different sort of introduction, taking young readers through skyscrapers and to a (dinosaur, naturally) museum and the zoo. There’s even a little about emergency services, making them recognisable to young readers.

Trains takes readers around the world (a little), introducing them to different sorts of trains, and stations, we might not necessarily see here in Australia. Again, a lovely introduction to something that young readers might find big and scary.

The age group for these is 0-2, but it’s also a great help for young nephews just starting to read.

How Cities Work and How Airports Work 

How Cities Work and How Airports Work are for kids aged 6-8 , so just around the right age for my nephews.

These offer young readers more complex activities all set within airports and cities. I was impressed that the city activity book included a page around a protest.

This page has people protesting something in front of an official building. The signs are blank, ready to be filled in by young readers, and Lonely Planet provides context that perhaps this is an environmental protest — and that’s not something I ever thought I would see in a kids’ activity book.

Activities include mazes, spotting the objects hidden in pictures and even learning how to tell the time. What I enjoyed about this is that  they’re easily done with my nephews, you know before they learn that they can do them and just basically start ignoring me.

I never realised just how far past guide books Lonely Planet has journeyed. Their books continue to impress — me and my nephews!