First published in 1977, this was one of the very first books from Usborne, then a brand new publisher. The World of the Unknown: All About Monsters lived on bookshelves, in bedrooms and libraries, thrilling its young readers with mythical monsters and sinister sightings, and ignited their curiosity with the possibility of strange, undiscovered creatures in our world. After twenty years, the world moved on, and The World of the Unknown series went out of print. But it wasn't forgotten. The books lived on in the memories of a generation, and when the readers of the 1970s and '80s grew up, they wanted them back. Usborne is proud to resurrect this series for a new generation of readers...

The second I flicked through this book I was hit with a massive wave of nostalgia. At least four or five of the page illustrations had me transported back to my childhood. In fact, I even rang my mother to ask if my original copy was still at her house.

So, for people of my age this is a chance to relive their childhoods and pass on the magic to their grandchildren. Although, rereading this made me realise how some of the images gave me nightmares as a young boy (but nowhere near as many as the Ghosts entry in the series did).

Over the course of these 32 pages (yes, sadly it is the length of a comic) you'll lean about monsters real and legendary including dinosaurs, dragons, sasquatch, the Loch Ness monster, the Kraken and many others.

Because science has not moved on, when it comes to monsters, since this book was originally published it's as fresh and up to date as it was on the day it came off the printing press in 1977. If you no longer have your copy, or want to gift a young reader a book they can treasure, you should buy this immediately.

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Darren Rea