*For Welsh review, see language toggle switch on top of page*
(suggested) reading age: 9-11, 11-14
(suggested) interest age: 8+
Genre: #nonfiction #research #fakenews #selfhelp
Welsh adaptation of 'Question Everything'
“We live in an information jungle. How can we help young readers to navigate safely through it to explore the world confidently and safely? They need to be armed with some essential critical literacy skills to find their way to reliable sources of information, to ask questions and to think for themselves.” - Susan Martineau [original author]
Don't be deceived by this books size - its jam packed with very sage advice for young researchers.
Digital age
For better or worse, we live in a digital age where technology is progressing at tremendous speed. Just think about how much life has changed since the advent of the web, and how dependent we are on it. It has permeated every part of our lives and there’s more information out there now that there’s ever been in our history – all at our fingertips.
I'm sure you've heard of 'Fake News' – a term that has received more attention in recent years. It means misleading on untrue information presented as real facts. Unfortunately, not all the information out there is what it seems, and a bit of detective work is often required, so we can be as confident as possible that what we’re reading is accurate.
It may not sound like a big problem, but fake news is insidious and dangerous. Especially when people start passively 'accepting' things without being critical and asking questions.
How does the book help?
The book helps us make some sense of the complexity. It will present you with research skills, which will enable you to think for yourself and come to a decision. Is the source of information safe? Is it reliable? Is it correct? These are just a few of the questions we should all be asking ourselves every time we read anything (and not just on computers either).
It will teach you which questions you need to ask, and how to weigh up the information before deciding what to do. These are essential skills for school work or for any further research at university. In fact, this book is an useful guide for anyone in everyday life.
What's good about the book?
For starters, it's packed with modern digital style illustrations, which helps to present all the information in an easy-to-read way. The book advises us, but never in a patronising way or one that tries to scare us. If the book is to be used as a textbook in class, there are also a series of tasks to practice the new thinking skills. This book would be a great resource to do group reading, sparking discussion along the way. The glossary to explain some of the terminology was useful – though I personally would have found the English translation of those words handy too.
Teachers - this book is perfect to tackle aspects of the new curriculum for Wales. The following comes from the 'statement of what matters.' - "learners to develop the skills to become unbiased and critically-aware interpreters of what they hear, read and see in order to interact as capable, informed citizens of Wales and the world."
What can I do?
Hopefully, by the time you finish reading the book, you'll feel more confident thinking for yourself, staying safe online and how to navigate your way through the abundance of information and misinformation that surrounds us. And remember the main message of this book - don't just accept anything - question everything!
