Cats React to Science Facts

"This one is fascinating. When I looked at it initially, I thought there is no way we’re going to get even close to shortlisting it, with its classic cats-as-a-hook. But when you start to read it, it’s really good. It really captures, for example, why the Earth has a magnetic field. It explains force and energy balances, the idea of electromagnetism. It’s really, really good, well explained science. And you’ve got the added fun of cats in it! As you said, one of the judges, for her children, it was the book they couldn’t put down; they would argue about who would take it to bed and read it. The other thing that was really compelling in this book was that some of the more traditional books are really science books. They’re going to appeal to a young student or child who’s already really interested in science. We wanted to try and have some books that might reach out to children who are maybe a bit intimidated by science or don’t think they’re very good at it, or perhaps just aren’t very interested in it. And we thought this book could do that: it would appeal to a much wider audience. I suspect it will do quite well."