Wissen für Kinder: die Erde is a Fun Little Science Book


This book is a wonderful gift from my mother’s friend, Professor Demleiter. Thank you again for your generosity!


Over the long, pleasant winter vacation, I felt my mind beginning to atrophy. The absence of deadlines and grades didn’t remove the desire to learn entirely, but my inclination to study subjects that I didn’t love—everything but English, German and history—had dramatically decreased. With the new year (and my high school midterms) fast approaching, I elected to review two subjects at once and picked up Wissen für Kinder: die Erde, a German-language children’s book of scientific information about the Earth.


Wissen für Kinder is divided into different subjects like “Atmosphere and Weather,” or “Countries and People.” and arranged in a question-and-answer format. Examples of questions “How old is our drinking water?” “Could dinosaurs live in the arctic?” and “What are Petrochemicals?” The answers usually take up a short paragraph and are easy to understand.


As someone who is still learning German, I thought Wissen für Kinder was a very useful study tool. Not only did it help me review topics taught in my current AP Environmental Science class (such as upwelling and the Nitrogen cycle), it also expanded my German vocabular. For example, I observed that Wasserstoff and Sauerstoff, the respective words for Hydrogen and Oxygen, were very different from their abbreviations on the Periodic Table. However, Natrium and Kalium, known in English as Sodium and Potassium, were taken from the Latin and were therefore much more similar.


Diagrams also aide Wissen für Kinder’s informative mission. A mixture of beautifully-colored illustrations and arresting photographs enliven the page and provide handy descriptions of the natural phenomena described in text. Some of my favorite pictures include a diagram of the sea floor beneath Britain on page 70 and a photograph of the Hagia Sophia on page 91. 


Wissen für Kinder is a well-made children’s book, but it’s not perfect. Most of the answers use neutral, descriptive language, but a throwaway line on page 104 seems to blame people in South America for the population boom the continent has experienced. This explanation might have been more acceptable when Wissen für Kinder was published (some time between 1991 and 2001 based on references to St. Petersberg and the Twin Towers), but today that sounds rather problematic. Otherwise, the information provided is pretty up-to-date and non-judgemental.


If there are young, German-speaking readers in your life or if you want to learn some vocabulary, I recommend Wissen für Kinder for you. It’s a fun little book and (thank you again) a wonderful gift!

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