by UTE MITCHELL
by Richard Dawkins
Illustrations by Dave McKean
Free Press, 2011
272 pp.; $29.99
Who was the first person really? Why are there so many different kinds of animals? What are things made of? Why do we have night and day, winter and summer? Why do bad things happen? These fundamental questions and so many more are answered in Richard Dawkins’ new book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True.
All the things a child may inquire about, and all the things a parent, such as myself, may struggle to answer, are explained in vivid yet digestible sections in this book. Each chapter begins with a question, for example, “When and how did everything begin?” Dawkins first explores non-scientific, mythical answers to his questions because, he writes, “they are colorful and interesting, and real people have believed them. Some people still do.” He then proceeds to explain what and why things really are. Science, he proves, is truly magical, and he takes the young reader (and his or her parents) on a journey of amazing facts, magical myths, and memorable anecdotes.
But for all of its wondrous information and Dawkins’ engaging style, The Magic of Reality would not be complete without the extraordinary illustrations by award-winning artist Dave McKean. Together, Dawkins and McKean have created the best science book this homeschooling family has ever seen.
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