Bear Grylls Survival Skills Maps

I have noticed that this entire series seems to have been rated down for being a children's series. It is in fact a children series as the product description clearly states with a recommended reading age of 9 - 12. As such the book is small, well illustrated and very easy to understand. I did buy the other books in this series for my son, age 9 who loves Bear Grylls and anything related to scouting. But I have to admit, as an adult I love the series as much as he does, and I bought this particular book for myself. I have bought more age appropriate books on the subject for myself, and I just didn't get it. We have an orienteering compass, but my husband has forgotten how to use one (and him an ex serviceman to boot). Having purchased other books in the series, this was my last hope at figuring out how to use the compass. I quickly thumbed through to the section, and was disappointed to find it was only two pages. But after reading it, that was all I needed. I get it now. Sometimes keeping things simple is a good thing.After reading this book, I added it to my sons collection and he has enjoyed this as well. He can't wait to try it out in the field. Because he is home educated, we have used this not only for entertainment and outdoor use, but also for science and geography. He learns so much from all the books in this series. I only wish I had bought this sooner, as this teaches so much of what my son spent an entire semester in grammar school learning without the tedium and boredom. My oldest hates maps. Thanks to this book my little one is fascinated by them. Bear Grylls honestly makes school work appealing enough to compete with video games! But he does say he can use some of the things he learned like attitude and longitude for video games as well.This book is 48 pages long. It is listed for children ages 9- 12, but I would expand this to 8 or even younger if you can take the child out and put the skills into practice. It begins with a basic checklist for beginning your adventure, needed equipment and a quick safety rule. After this the book shows how to fold and care for your map, how to read maps and understand them including topographical features , distance and symbols. It discusses use of landmarks and choosing the best routes. It teaches attitude, longitude, the Greenwich Meridian, grid reference and projection maps in minutes, and makes it interesting enough that children will remember it.In addition your child will learn about magnetism, the difference between true north and magnetic north and about the earth's magnetic fields. It teaches them how a compass works, how to use a compass and even how to make your own. It also teaches how to navigate without a compass, and finally has a glossary which explains words many children may be unfamiliar with... and makes a handy spelling list for us educators who want to create thematic units as well.In addition to teaching so many useful skills, I think the author provides a much needed, very positive male role model in a time when this is badly needed. I very strongly recommend this book to home educators, parents wishing to help their children understand geography, parents of scouts or children with an interest in the outdoors, and for both boys and girls to be exposed to such a positive influence. Or you can read them just for fun.As for adults... I can't imagine that this would be of much use to an experience orienteer. Nor would I feel confident enough to be dropped in the Brecon Beacons in a snowstorm with this book and a map to find my way home. If you are looking expert knowledge, this isn't it. You would probably get more from Bear's adult books, but even then, I would go slowly and have a back up plan. No amount of books will substitute for real world experience in this sort of thing.But if you are a novice, as I am, and you just want to learn the basics without being overwhelmed, this may be ideal. We plan to put this knowledge to use first on a sponsored hike, in which we can n it really get lost anyway. We will map our own neighbourhood and use this in addition to well marked trails until we develop some proficiency. I would highly recommend this as a starting point, even for adults and if you find this is something that interests you, you can buy more advanced books as you progress. Finally, this would be an excellent addition to any geography classroom, or scout master's library.

There are gross and dangerous errors in this book - for example, the forest on page 21 is in sector 5742 not 4257. This is fundamental! I cannot give this book to my grandson to learn map reading! How have none of the people giving this good reviews not found these errors? have they actually read or used the book? BG should extract his name from this series if this book is anything to go by.If you want a good book on navigation for youngsters buy the 'Ordnance Survey Kids' Adventure Book' - absolutely brilliant in comparison.

Exactly as expected, happy customer

My son loves it

Bought this for a gift for a scout, he loves it and is learning from it