Enter the Shadowy World of Spies and Espionage with Nat Geo Kids' TOP SECRET! (Review)

 Disclosure: I was provided with a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.

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Thanks to a few week-long spy and cracking codes online summer camps my girls took, they are all about sleuthing and trying to solve cold cases and mysteries in history.  Seeing just how excited they got about sleuthing thanks to these camps, I knew they would love helping me review a recent Nat Geo Kids book, which released back in April, called "Top Secret: Spies, Codes, Capers, Gadgets, and Classified Cases Revealed."  

Just looking at the cover, they both agreed it was up their alley, and they couldn't wait to grab it from my hands, and sit together on the couch to read it.  With 192 pages, this book is jam packed with activities, surprises and so much more. Kids ages 8-12 years old will eat up all the cool "Be a Spy" activities, while getting an insiders look at how magic really happens, getting an up close and personal look at the world's most mysterious places and even be able to try their hands at making invisible ink and other fun hands on spy gear tools, to put their spy skills to the test.

My girls really enjoyed this book, and were so impressed with all the content that filled the pages of this book. They liked how it included the hands on activities for them to do and try out, and see how it applied to the stories/features in the book.  My youngest really got into the classified case files that fill the pages of this book -- with the "The Real-Life Willy Wonka" story being her favorite.

I tried asking my girls to rank their top 3 favorite things from the book, but they said they couldn't as they loved everything.  And, after reading the book myself after they were done with it, I could see why it was so hard for them to choose, as this book is really well done and has so much "top spy" content and activities that kids will enjoy it all.

If you have a wanna be spy or crime solver in your house, then you'll want to share this "Top Secret" book by Nat Geo Kids with them.  My girls give this book 2 thumbs up, and I know that once your kids get their hands on it and read through it, they will agree with them!  So, what are you waiting for?....grab this book today, so your kids can start their "spy in training" studies. :-)

More about this book:

"The world of spies, codes and cover-ups is always a topic of fascination for kids and playing "secret agent" with siblings and friends is a great way to give children a break from screens and get them engaging their imaginations.   The world of espionage is also a "stealthy" way to hone observation skills and encourage an interest in STEM topics, like the technology behind the gadgets, the science behind invisible ink and the engineering feats of secret rooms and compartments.  This spring, National Geographic Kids Books is debuting Top Secret -- a new book for secret agents in training with nearly 200 pages filled with the latest intel on the world's most classified cases, top secret truths, and cryptic curiosities you could ever hope to get your fingerprints on. 

From mastering escape and evasion techniques, to crafting the perfect disguise, building a gadget on the fly or decoding secret intel, Top Secret: Spies, Codes, Capers, Gadgets and Classified Cases Revealed (National Geographic Kids Books, ages 8-12,  April 2021, Hardcover, 192 pages) takes recruits beyond the page and out into the shadow world of espionage and all things clandestine, where “all is not what it seems,” including:

• The ins and outs of international espionage
• Spy agencies across the globe
  
• Clandestine Dos and Don'ts (DO: Use Dead Drops, Think on Your Feet, Remember Everything! DONT: Break Cover, Trust Anyone, Admit to Anything!) 
• Fascinating profiles of history-making spies, like, "The Limping Lady" -- World War II's most dangerous spy -- and an interview with Lindsay Moram, a real-life agent of espionage for the CIA (retired 2003) 
• Hands-on how-to's, including: a step-by-step guide to setting up your own spy network and detailed info on how to make your own disguises, create fingerprint kits, engineer a deck of cards with a secret compartment, design rearview spy glasses, and mix up some invisible ink for writing secret messages
  
• Bold secret missions -- like how the CIA stole a Soviet spacecraft -- and gave it right back!
• Gadgets, tools of the tradecraft and surveillance equipment  
  
• Tips for uncovering secrets and hidden messages that are all around you -- in advertising, at amusement parks, in video games, on cash -- they are everywhere!
  
• Code-cracking of secret messages hidden throughout the book"

 Disclosure: I was provided with a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.