Horrible Geography
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Redesigned front cover of Freaky Peaks (2001)
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| Author | Anita Ganeri |
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| Illustrator | Mike Phillips |
| Cover artist | Phillips |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Subject | Geography |
| Genre | Children's |
| Publisher | Scholastic UK |
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Publication date
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1999–present |
Horrible Geography is a series of children's non-fiction books written by Anita Ganeri, illustrated by Mike Phillips, and published in the UK by Scholastic. It is a spin-off from the Horrible Histories series and is designed to get children interested in Geography by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. The series currently[when?] has 21 titles, including specials, activity books and handbooks.[1]
Contents
Inspiration
As an answer to the question "Where do you get your inspiration from when you're writing a book [in the Horrible Geography series]?" in an interview off the Schlostic website, Anita Ganeri responded:
- Well, geography is about the world around you so I spend a lot of time staring out of my window! In between staring, I get information from books, TV programmes, magazines and the internet. I am also a member of the Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) in London. It's where all the great geographical expeditions of the past set out from. They have a fantastic library and lots of things belonging to explorers like Captain Scott (included stuffed penguins) and David Livingstone (including his diary, boots etc). The trouble is, finding out about deserts or poles etc is so fascinating, I tend to get carried away and do far more research than I can cram into the book.[2]
Titles in the series
Original titles
- Bloomin' Rainforests (2001) - (Rainforests)
- Cracking Coasts (22 May 2006) - (Coasts)
- Desperate Deserts (2000) - (Deserts)
- Earth-Shattering Earthquakes (17 November 2000) - (Earthquakes)
- Freaky Peaks (2001) - (Mountain Peaks)
- Monster Lakes (2005) - (Lakes)
- Odious Oceans (1999) - (Oceans)
- Perishing Poles (2002) - (The Poles)
- Raging Rivers (2000) - (Rivers)
- Stormy Weather (1999) - (Storms)
- Violent Volcanoes (1999) - (Volcanoes)
- Wild Islands (16 April 2004) - (Islands)
Specials
Specials are a bigger size than the other books. They are:
- Intrepid Explorers (19 September 2003) - (Explorers)
- The Horrible Geography of the World (2007) - (The World)
Handbooks
- Wicked Weather (2008) - (Weather)
- Wild Animals (7 January 2008) - (Animals)
- Planet in Peril (1 June 2009) - (Global Warming)
- Vile Volcanoes (3 May 2010) - (Volcanoes)
- Perilous Poles (4 Oct 2010) - (The Poles)
Two Books in One
- Desperate Deserts and Bloomin' Rainforests (10 December 2004) - (Rainforests and Deserts)
- Raging Rivers and Odious Oceans (2001) - (Rivers and Oceans)
- Violent Volcanoes and Earth-Shattering Earthquakes (2002) - (Volcanoes and Earthquakes)
- Freaky Peaks and Perishing Poles (2007) - (Mountains and the Poles)
Other
- Awesome Atlas Jigsaw Book (Board book) - 6 April 2009 [3]
- Fantastic Flags Sticker book (Sticker Book) - 2 August 2012
Book makeover
In order to follow suit with the other main series in the Horrible saga - namely Horrible Histories, Horrible Science, Horribly Famous and Murderous Maths, the Horrible Geography underwent a makeover, changing the cover of all their books. All of the original books have been altered, though none of the Two Books in One have.[citation needed]
Critical reception
The books have received positive reception as a whole series, as well as significant praise on individual books of the series. In a review of Desperate Deserts it has been commented that "This book is great and I love it. The desert is amazing. I used to think that geography was boring but now I have definitely changed my mind!".[4]
Cultural impact
Title Earth-Shattering Earthquakes and Violent Volcanoes is described by Margaret Mallett in her book Choosing and Using Fiction and Non-Fiction 3-11 as being a book that "entertains as well as providing quality explanations for phenomena". The title is further describes as being "organised in ten chapters" and "[using] clear dagrams and clear text and includes detail that will entertain children".[5]
Creative Writing For Dummies by Maggie Hamand explains that the Scholastic series, along with Horrible Histories and Horrible Science have been hugely popular with children. "They aim to provide accurate factual information in an entertaining way, in an inexpensive paper format with black and white illustrations".[6]
According to The Oxford encyclopedia of children's literature: Dubo - Lowr, Volume 2 Jack David Zipes, Anita Ganeri's series (debuting in 1997), along with Nick Arnold series Horrible Science (debuting in 1996), Kjartan Poskitt's Murderous Maths series (debuting in 1997), and the multi-authored The Knowledged series (debuting in 1997) "follow in the same vein [as]" and "treat their subject with similar humour [to]" Horrible Histories.[7]
Travel with Kids by William Gray describes the series as "geographical gems in this amusing series of paperbacks for children aged seven and above".[8]
According to Growing and knowing: a selection guide for children's literature by Mary Trim, "Middle Years readers...who contributed their book review to this text" enjoy the Horrible Geography along with The Knowledge and Murderous Maths.[9]
Mesoamerican Myth: A Treasury of Central American Legends, Art, and History refers to Horrible Geography as being an "award winning..series"[10]
In 2008, The Geographical Association gave Horrible Geography of the World a Highly Commended Award for its "great contribution to school geography". The judges liked the " fact that the book was full of ‘quirky facts’ as well as loads of useful and interesting information about the world we live in".[11]
The handbook Planet in Peril won the 2009 Blue Peter Book Awards in the category of Best Book with Facts.[12]
In 2011, Anita Ganeri was presented with RSGS Geographical Education Medal for her "Inspiring, yet Gruesome, Geography Facts".[13]
As of 2011, the series has sold two million copies and been translated into more than 20 languages.[13]
References
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External links
- Scholastic homepage for Horrible Geography
- Horrible Books and Magazines USA
- Anita Ganeri, Mike Phillips collaborations at WorldCat
