The books, which feature the first new classic Ladybird artworks for 40 years,[1] have a "50/50" split between text and illustration with the latter ranging from literal interpretations of the complex subjects, to more surreal, abstract representations.

[4]The project, which was led by Penguin's Creative Director of Brands and Licensing Ronnie Fairweather,[2] resulted in a new series of books, featuring the first new Ladybird style illustrations in 40 years, which began in January 2017 with the publication of the first three titles.

[6] The idea for the book came from Charles' friend Nicholas Soames, who, following the Prince's address on to world leaders at the opening session of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, pointed out the need for a guide to the subject in plain English.

[7] At the insistence of the authors, the draft was submitted to the Royal Meteorological Society for peer review under the editorship of the chairman of its climate science special interest group David Warrilow.

Concerns that Charles, who as heir apparent to the British throne should maintain political neutrality, writing a book about a potentially sensitive issue could be controversial proved largely unfounded.

[7] Ravensbourne University London's dean of design Prof. Lawrence Zeegen states that the use of the aesthetics of the 50s and 60s to draw attention to an urgent 21st century issue results in what appears to be an endorsement of the reactionary views on society commonly attributed to Charles.

[2] The Guardian's associate culture editor Claire Armistead points to the full-page illustration of a joke about the sponsorship of Denmark's Niels Bohr Institute by a well-known lager brewer as and example of the series' sly tongue-in-cheek humour.

[7] The Guardian's associate culture editor Claire Armistead points to the final picture of the book's Guardian-reading author being hoisted aloft by an extremely well-endowed chimp as and example of the series' sly tongue-in-cheek humour.

[1] Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights' founder Nic Bottomley stated that the books in this series were very different from previous retro-books for adults and that they looked like great access points to complex subjects from some brilliant writers.