I bought Exploring Science 8 to support my daughters learning because a change of schools part way through the year resulted in missing some sections where the schools studied topics at different times. This was the series of books used in the second school. The idea was to just have the book to refer to so she could be confident that she wasn't missing big sections of the curriculum. In fact we have made a particular time to sit down together and chat through the topics because they are so interesting and relevant to every day life. I did not look at any other books so can not compare, but there are plenty of pictures, diagrams, sections to read, questions to help you check your understanding. The science topics are grounded in every day life with references which are very up to date (published 2008) and it follows historical threads of scientific discovery and understanding to see how life has developed as a result. We hove found this book so interesting to share that I have also bought the Exploring Science 7 and 9. They are a tidy trio, each building on the knowledge of the previous one. My younger daughter is in year 5 and I have also started sharing the Exploring 7, 8 and 9 books in no particular order, as a picture prompts her to ask a question. We have not used the computer discs yet or needed answers from the web site (mentioned by a previous review)so still have this to explore.
I recommend these books to children in year 7, 8 and 9 to support the science curriculum in school and for a good basis from a parents point of view to get an idea of what is being taught these days. Often we have no idea what our children are taught so this has been great for us and enabled us to have a good starting point for general discussion too.