What Darwin Saw: The Journey That Changed the World

I like everything about this book: the ease of understanding the evidence for evolution, the creatively beautiful art work that so marvelously illustrates it, the unanticipated but courageous life journey that led to Darwin’s understanding of life’s origins, and the appeal this fascinating book has for both youths and adults. Plus, it arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition. Much appreciated!

It was really hard for my 3rd grader to read this. A ton of weird words in it.

This book has lots of illustrations, but for some reason it feels kind of awkward to read (to me.) It gives a lot of facts and uses Darwin's journal entries, so it's above my 5-year old's comprehension level. Older kids might love it though.

We first saw this book on a cruise to the Galapagos in their library. Although it is listed as a children's book we bought it for ourselves. Every page has notes from Darwin of what he observed and what he did. Every other book we had found before we left was extremely technical or detailed. Fun to pick up and look through.

The contents are well researched, and the drawings are wonderful. We are collecting her books, and very lucky to have a copy of our own.

We first got this from the library when our son was in 2nd grade and had been very interested in biology for years. I agree with another reviewer it's a little hard to read aloud (like I found Magic School Bus books to be - between a story and a graphic novel). But it has appealing illustrations and lots of information to learn about Darwin. Possibly more fitting for about 5th grade for most students. Along with this book, the stunning BBC documentary "Galapagos"--which we watched at the same time--is a great introduction to Darwin and evolution.

I got this book for our homeschool history lesson and I was very pleased at how eye-grabbing but clear the illustrations were, the careful dating, the map (gosh more books need maps!), and the upshot of it all. It makes both of us want to find out more. The only thing lacking was a good paragraph on WHY his idea would upset so many people, but I think it omitted to appear PC about religions. A very minor lack. This book is FULL of great words, quotes, events, and animals. My 8 year old hung on every page.

I like books that can be read on many levels, that pack a lot of information into a manageable format, books in which new things can be found each time a reader returns to it. WHAT DARWIN SAW is one of those books. Not only is a great deal of information presented in an engaging format, but respect for both subject and reader are evident in the way the book was researched - both text and illustrations. I also appreciate the notes on just how the author/illustrator went about doing her research. It says a lot about how she approaches her work. (And there's a neat personal connection to Darwin which makes it all the more intriguing.) So, just in time for the anniversary of Darwin's 200th birthday - and to get a handle on his contributions for the next generation, this book is highly recommended!