Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Zoom In Zoom Out

9780756682699HZoom In Zoom Out – A Close-Up and Far-Out Look at Our World
Published at DK Canada

About the book

Zoom In, Zoom Out is a groundbreaking visual reference book promising an amazing new experience with each turn of the page. Throughout the book the viewpoint changes, shifting our perspective through a run of spreads, zooming in, zooming out, as well as going sideways, forward, and backward. Through this inventive visual technique, readers are kept constantly engaged, and invited to consider the connections between different aspects of their world.

My Thoughts

Have you ever wonder what the world around you look like?  Not just from your vision point of view but from a close-up and a wide range of vision.  Well Zoom In Zoom Out is giving you the opportunity to do so by simply turning pages…

I am amazed and impressed by the quality of this book.    While flipping the pages, you can’t help yourself to read more about something.  For example, did you know that the body of a fish is slightly more dense than water, which means it tend to sink slowly?   But a typical ray-finned fish has a gas-filled sac in its body called a swim bladder, which can be inflated with extra gas from a gas gland to increase the fish’s buoyancy.  By adjusting this, a fish can move up and down with little effort.   Sharks however don’t have swim bladders but they have large oily livers that help with buoyancy.   I find this fascinating and I marvel once more on how creative the Creator has been when he made the fishes…

The concept behind the book is quite original.   In some of the pages throughout the book, you will see a white frame in a specific area of a picture.   If you turn the page it will show you the area selected in more details.   Same idea is done with a zoom out frame that is different in design.  You can see the frames in the image below.

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The table of contents gives you details of what is covered in this book:

Nature: ecosystems, mollusks, plankton, fish, plant life, amphibians, flowers, insects, fungi, feeding, birds, movement, mammals, living together,attach and defense, reptiles
Human Body: brain and nerves, skeleton and muscles, ears, skin, hair and nails, eyes, body invaders, new life, breathing, blood, heart, digestive system, taste and smell, cells
Earth: islands, volcanoes, weather, earth, oceans, ice, mountains, rivers, soil, earthquakes, plate tectonics, climate zones, rocks, erosion, coasts, caves
People and Places: cities, countries, continents, maps, quality of life, industry, festivals, tourism, the state, economy, food, flags, alliances, religion
Art and Culture: art, architecture, books, language, dance, film, media, music, photography, sports, design, theater
History: war, first cities, human origins, early America, imperial China, exploration, Ancient Greece, political revolutions, industrial revolution, new ideas, Ancient Egypt, Africa, India, medicine, Ancient Rome
Science and Technology:  energy, dynamics, atoms, light, materials, chemistry, heat and cold, telecommunications, sound, machines, states of matter, robots, computers, electricity and magnetism
Space: looking into space, the moon, international space station, space travelers, rocky planets, exploring space, the sun, giant planets, comets, stars, galaxies, Universe

My favorite part is probably the human body section where you can get up close and personal with how your body works.    It is also perfect to complete and illustrate the anatomy lessons you might have with your kids!     Here’s an example of what the pages of this book present – Skin, hair, and nails.

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In the images above, you can see a white square around the eye of the woman.    So when you turn the page you get a close-up of the eye ( see image below) and you can read more detailed information about it.

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Photos, graphics, images can be found through the pages of this book.  Nothing is more helpful I find that to have images to illustrate what is written.   Being a visual person, I enjoy this book enormously!  Now imagine if this book would become an app for the iPod/iPad….   It would be fantastic to zoom in and out automatically!    What a great way to include interaction with a book don’t you think?

This book is not only great for anatomy lessons but for any kind of subject you might cover in your homeschool.   Granted there might be sections where the evolution is covered (I’m thinking about the human origins part for example), but I believe this book is fabulous nevertheless.    It would be a fabulous reference book to have in your personal library!

Zoom In Zoom Out is available at your favorite bookstore, even amazon.ca.

Disclaimer: I received the product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.

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