In this video he talks about The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True, a book designed to be read by parents and children together. The hardback, out on October 4, is $18.48 at Amazon, and nontheist or science-oriented families will certainly want to buy it.
Dawkins’s new children’s book
September 8, 2011 • 3:39 pm
Wonderful! As a 40 year old with no children I can’t wait to read it.
As a lay person, I am awed by just how much more fascinating the cosmos is in reality than our primitive myths show. For example, when you consider that Io is the most volcanic place in the solar system because it’s being constantly squeezed and stretched by the gravitational pull of Jupiter and it’s moons, generating intense friction and heat. It makes the stories like Moses talking to a burning tree, or Mohammed flying to heaven on a winged horse (the kind of which you can see at any decent stable) seem lame, pathetic and just unimaginative in comparison.
I think the Burak might have had a human head. I’ve not seen many of those in a stable regardless of how decent it is, but IO still impresses me more.
Yes, Burak had a woman’s head (Freud would have had an interesting explanation for that I bet!).
That is going right on my bookshelf! I would love to read it with my nephews when they get a little older.
As an atheist, I can certainly say that I will make a habit of reading this to babies before I eat them.
That’s magical realism!
It gets good reviews from Philip Pullman, Lawrence Krauss and Ricky Gervais.
Yeah, whatever… but what does Rick Perry think about it?
September the 20th in the UK, I already have mine on pre-order 🙂
An ideal candidate for a truly interactive e-book with audio, video & hyperlinks to sources & to further information. Publishers need to take a few more risks.
This will definitely be getting added to the collection.
I’m amused that the front cover lists Dawkins as author of the bestselling “The Selfish Gene”, rather than “The God Delusion.”
Hm, I thought the sun was made of plasma. If Richard Dawkins says he wants to clear up he myths with this book, saying the sun is made of gas would be to spread another one …
Does not plasma obey the same laws as gas (and then some)? It doesn’t seem wrong to me; though do I like to remind people that the ancients were nearly right to regard all matter as earth, water, air, or fire (if by that one means solid, liquid, gas or plasma), these are bulk properties whose semantic as well as physical boundaries are properly fuzzy.
It’s technically wrong. Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_(physics)) has a nice section of differences between gas and plasma. Also, my 8-month old watches TMBG’s “Here Comes Science” almost daily, and they do a nice job of making the mistake of calling the sun a “mass of incandescent gas” in one song and correcting themselves one song later by saying “the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma.” It also helps broach the subject of the self-correcting nature of science…
But picking of this small nit aside, I can’t wait to read this to my baby girl! Who cares about suggested reading ages, start em early by at least reading to them, and don’t underestimate what they can pick up!
Isn’t plasma ionized gas?
This is too cool. My son is 2 years old, and in time he shall be steeped in this book. I’m thrilled it addresses the guts of thinking and perception processes. This is so much more important than most educational materials that focus on disseminating factoids.
Wait that dude at 2:17 is Ra, the Egyptian God of the sun, not Nanautzin, the Aztec God who was the sun.
Anyway I’ll probably pick this book up at some point.
I gave my dad a copy of River out of Eden a few years ago which I thought was the most awesome Dawkins book. He said it was a bit hard to follow.
Maybe I’ll try this one at Christmas.
Almost enough to make you wish you had kids–nah!
20 $ to know the sun is a huge ball of gas? I dont know.
yes, you’re obviously wayyy too knowledgeable for this book.
You might be ready to move up to such intellectual challenges as:
Everyone Poops.
I think you can even get that one for less than 20.00!
You can wait for the paperback. 🙂
I doubt a curious and educated adult will learn many new facts from the book, but what I personally look forward to is the delightful presentation of them. Plus, I’m sure most of the myths will be new to me, and interesting.
There’s also Adam Mansbach’s children’s book: Go the F**k to Sleep (http://www.amazon.com/Go-F-Sleep-Adam-Mansbach/dp/1617750255)!
This new book by Dawkins is very wellcome indeed! There is really a big need for literature for children of all ages, written from a naturalistic viewpoint. Not only books about nature and science, but also about culture and society, and especially about morality, freedom of thought and speech, emancipation and human rights, religions, and so on.
For those of you who understand German, I would like to recommend this wonderful little children’s book about religions: “Wo bitte geht’s zu Gott?, fragte das kleine Ferkel: Ein Buch für alle, die sich nichts vormachen lassen” by Michael Schmidt-Salomon and Helge Nyncke. (In free translation: “Please, where can I find God? asked little piglet. A book for those who don’t like to be deceived”.)
I just found out that there is an English translation downloadable on internet, and so are the illustrations – but separately:
http://www.ferkelbuch.de/
Just received the book (Amazon seems to already ship this out in Germany) and must say that it is beautifully illustrated.
A great book for fundie bible camp. OK children, let’s read about earthquakes from this book of funny stories. Got it? OK, now open your bibles and we’ll read what really is true, because your god gave us the answers so very many years ago (please do not exceed 6500 years, however).
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My son has just started Englishclasses AND natural historyclasses in third grade. I Think he needs something to practise on. Like a book. About evolution. In English. Must buy.
Early Sat a.m. viewing PBS children’s programs that my 3 children watched…Mr. Rogers’ (a Christian minister’s) Neighborhood (“land of make-believe…”), now Sesame Street (talking animals looking like non on earth…), etc. A big contrast to Dawkins’ book (horribile dictu: gravity is being demonstrated now by dropping books & “writing pads” on the street!!). A v good gift for my grandchildren though I suspect many will object…including Mr. Rogers wherever he may be (RIP).
Oh I would love to buy this for my niece and nephews (the eldest is seven, so maybe in a few years); I do fear that the fact it is by Richard Dawkins and mixes Christian myths in with the others may prove too much for my (fairly liberal) Catholic parents however. My mother got uncharacteristically angry at me the other day when I happened to contradict something she’d said of a religious nature in front of my niece so even for relatively liberal believers this book might rock the boat a little!
Hi,
I had a flick through this book after a university exam only to find that Richard Dawkins has got some of the fundamentals of plate tectonic movement wrong. I had just been examined on this in a geology exam and unfortunately ideas within the field are always developing. His ideas on plate tectonics were accepted 15 years ago, but not so much any more.