The Big Earth Book

Planet Earth. Four elements. One incredible story. Lonely Planet Kids' The Big Earth Book takes children on a rollercoaster ride through history, geography, science and more to show how four elements - earth, fire, air and water - created the world and everything that exists today. Amazing facts, photography and illustrations bring our planet and its past to life in an exciting, engaging way.

Written by Mark Brake, a science writer and broadcaster who's worked for NASA, the BBC and the National Science Museum of Thailand, and created in consultation with Dr Mike Goldsmith, a research scientist and writer with a PhD in astrophysics from Keele University in the UK.

Highlights include:

Earth:

• How the Earth was formed
• The structure of the Earth
• Plate tectonics and rocks
• Earthquakes and volcanoes
• Humans in the stone age
• Hunter-gatherers and farming
• Fossils and digging for treasure
• DNA: the code of life

Fire:

• Ingredients for fire
• Fire and humans
• The history of fire
• The dangers of wildfire
• The Great Fire of London
• Gunpowder and fireworks
• The combustion engine
• Carbon and global warming

Air:

• What's air made of?
• The Northern Lights
• How animals learned to fly
• Dinosaurs in the air
• Birds and bats
• The history of flight
• Speech and language
• Music and instruments
• Weather and climate

Water:

• The origins of water
• Rivers and oceans
• The water cycle
• The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Canals, bridges and dams
• Exploring the seas
• The age of exploration
• Tsunamis and waterfalls

About Lonely Planet Kids: Come explore! Let's start an adventure. Lonely Planet Kids excites and educates children about the amazing world around them. Combining astonishing facts, quirky humour and eye-catching imagery, we ignite their curiosity and encourage them to discover more about our planet. Every book draws on our huge team of global experts to help share our continual fascination with what makes the world such a diverse and magnificent place - inspiring children at home and in school.