When I was in school (many eons ago), I hated history class. The history textbooks were so dry. And, honestly, the lectures were kind of dry, too. Although, I did have a world history professor who made learning really fun and had us play Jeopardy with our history facts. He was probably the only teacher I ever had that made history fun, exciting, and interesting. It truly takes a special teacher to make history exciting. But, I think I found another great history teacher of sorts: the author, Christopher Lloyd. If you have a child that is struggling in finding history exciting and fun, I suggest Christopher Lloyd’s new book called Absolutely Everything!: A History of Earth, Dinosaurs, Rulers, Robots and Other Things Too Numerous to Mention.
In this book, the author takes you on a rollercoaster ride through history, starting at 13.8 billion years ago until the present! Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it? Christopher Lloyd actually doesn’t overload the reader with thousands of pages to cover such a time period. Instead, he takes fascinating, historical information (probably a lot of which you would never learn in history class) and he weaves it together into an amazing and unique history lesson with a very different format many readers are sure to appreciate.
To be honest, the book doesn’t cover absolutely everything. According to Christopher Lloyd, “Instead the book is meant to be a gateway to all the knowledge in the world. For every question it answers, it sparks more questions, which I hope will lead you into a lifelong love of questioning and finding answers” (p. 9).
Christopher Lloyd’s writing is engaging and down-to-earth. He doesn’t talk above you, which I appreciate. And, he doesn’t just list a bunch of events and when they occurred (which I remember having to memorize in school and detested). In fact, he writes as if he’s sitting at a coffee table with you and having a conversation! And, this makes it super fun!
Pre-order and Get Your Copy for a Great Christmas Gift!
This book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon (ISBN: 978-1-9998-0283-7; What on Earth Publishing). It will be released in mid-October. It’s a sturdy hardcover and retails for $21.99 (price subject to change). This book would make a perfect gift for Christmas for kids that love history and even for kids that don’t love history!
Connect with Christopher Lloyd: Amazon | What on Earth Books | Goodreads