Popular Science Children's Review - Freak Food Experiments

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Review - Freak Food Experiments - Nick Arnold

Remember when parents used to cry "don't play with your food!" - things are going to be very different if you dare to buy Freaky Food Experiments from those Horrible Science people. You'll find that playing with food (and drink) is exactly what's on the menu. (Aside - why isn't Silly Science? The "horrible" was to go along with histories originally.) This slim book contains "over twenty eye-popping experiments to make your stomach squirm" according to the cover. As usual with Scholastic books the formula is simple but appealing. We get a practical experiment to do (on food and drink), a "you should find" section that gives the expected outcomes, and a "this is because section" that explains a touch of the science behind it.

With the opportunities to make alien dough monsters, famously foul cocktail, an alien egg and more, there's a good range of options, while each section ends in a quiz with multiple choice or match the question/answer combinations, mostly about bizarre facts and strange happenings around food (very little science with some of these). As usual the book is well illustrated throughout (and in colour), though only the cover goes to Arnold's usual collaborator Tony de Saulles, leaving the interior to Dave Smith. For the practically minded, the cover of the book has a nice, plastic, wipe-clean cover, though I suspect the pages will get a bit tatty - but then this isn't the sort of book to treasure and keep pristine.

The science is spread a little thinly for my taste - there could have been a bit more, and sometimes the explanations leave a little to be desired. (For example, when explaining why nettle soup doesn't sting you we are told "heating probably breaks up [the] chemicals" - a bit vague, this.) For that matter, the book itself is a little on the thin side, too. But there's no doubting that this is a fun book that should result in a little learning, a lot of entertainment and a whole kitchenful of mess - no doubt for mum or dad to clean up.

Reviewed by Jo Reed

* Our age range recommendation is an estimated guide, but individual readers outside the range could still enjoy the book!

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