The other thing I’m an expert in is sex,’ Jones continues, ‘and I thought I’d like to write the Ladybird book of sex. It would be the least erotic book ever written. It would be about inbreeding and the differences between males and females – I touch on it a bit in the evolution book – but the publishers said no. It was a Ladybird book too far for them. Focusing on tangible consequences of climate impacts (such as health risks from extreme weather), or concrete benefits of climate policies (health gains from preventative measures to keep climate risks at bay) is likely to generate more engagement from people who don’t live and breathe climate change in the way that scientists or campaigners do. One book won’t catapult climate change out of the green margins and into the middle-England mainstream. But with 6500 copies sold (and counting), this is a book on climate change that might just reach the elusive ‘unusual suspects’.

Climate Change by King Charles III | Goodreads Climate Change by King Charles III | Goodreads

Presenting the story of climate change – the science, the consequences and most importantly our options for responding to it – in a way that doesn’t ruffle the feathers of the notoriously sceptical right-leaning UK press is certainly a major step in the right direction. Written by the leading lights and most outstanding communicators in their fields, the Ladybird Expert books provide clear, accessible and authoritative introductions to subjects drawn from science, history and culture. Our shops at Laura and Burra are now closed. We are always happy to provide any required images/ information of any listed book. Jim Al-Khalili, who wrote the guide to quantum mechanics, is a physicist, writer and broadcaster and has a PhD in theoretical nuclear physics. Tony Juniper, a campaigner and environmentalist, is a fellow of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. We have a US president who has said that ‘nobody really knows’ if climate change is real. ‘One would hope that a copy [of Climate Change] will find its way into the Oval Office and that President Trump might be able to review his views,’ says Juniper.The question that puzzled me while scanning the launch titles was: why do we need a book on quantum mechanics? I mean, climate change is obvious. The world does need to be better informed about the climatic well-being of our planet. Filbert Cobb seems hard and cynical, not without justification, so so be it, but if Prince Charles would make a clear statement on the whole hunting issue and in support of radical reform, followed up by management practice on the Royal estates, it may be a mega U turn or it may be him “coming out” with what he really thinks, but it would certainly get some attention on the issue. He can be radical and revolutionary…so now would be good, far better than the blind and arrogant stubbornness of many in the shooting world. Probably better in the shooting and National press than a Ladybird book, but I may be wrong there! Nice little book with a big reach. He says the Nature Series books Garden Birds and Sea and Estuary Birds were very ‘inspiring’ to a seven-year-old in Oxford. He still has the What to Look For In… quartet – Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter – at home in Cambridge. The illustrations by Ruth Palmer deserve a special mention – they are attractive and very evocative of those of the original Ladybird books. As a social scientist whose work has focused on communicating climate change, the authors invited me to comment on an early draft, because they wanted to reach a broad audience. I gave the same advice to the prince’s co-authors as I would anyone else, based on the growing body of research on public engagement with climate change: whichever audience you’re hoping to engage with on climate change, it makes sense to try and connect with everyday experiences rather than abstract data and projections.

Prince Charles (Famous People) by Ladybird Books - Biblio Hrh Prince Charles (Famous People) by Ladybird Books - Biblio

It’s clearly not the same as climate change,’ Jim Al-Khalili admits. ‘I am not on a moral crusade. But I would say quantum mechanics is on a par with evolution. We wouldn’t have health and medicine and agriculture without understanding Darwin’s theory of evolution. Similarly I wouldn’t be talking to you on my mobile phone without quantum mechanics.’ Penguin was approached in spring last year and the publisher was enthusiastic. After the prince and his co-authors produced their first draft, Penguin turned to David Warrilow, chairman of the climate science special interest group at the Royal Meteorological Society, and a team of seven other climate specialists to go through the 5,000-word manuscript before publication. The constitutional monarch, who must remain politically neutral, wrote of how he admired children across the world for “raising the alarm and calling for big changed to happen.”

I recently interviewed Greenland residents, for whom adapting to climate changes is part of everyday life. We don’t really consider ourselves to be living climate-changed lives in Britain, but my childhood 30 years ago was enlivened by two winter blizzards that each shut down my village for a week. That snowmaggedon was great for community spirit. It’s a while since I bought a Ladybird book – but I still have a lot of the original series dotted around the house. Talking to Penguin you also have the strong impression that the Expert series is a broadside against growing anti-expert rhetoric (‘People in this country have had enough of experts,’ said Michael Gove during the referendum campaign). The message of the series is that experts matter, and its team of writers signifies serious intent.