National Geographic Visual Encyclopedia of Earth: Wonders of Our Living Planet by Michael Allaby

From the Publisher

National Geographic Visual Encyclopedia of Earth is the definitive guide to our incredible, ever-changing world. This is the single-volume reference every forward-looking library should include, sure to foster the next generation’s sense of connectedness with our world and to inspire the ecologists and scientists of tomorrow.

Written by renowned international authority Michael Allaby, this lively encyclopedia gives kids a rock-solid foundation, reveals the latest research on fragile ecosystems and climate shift, and engages young readers with riveting information, eye-catching illustrations, and, of course, peerless National Geographic photography.

How do twisters form? What makes lightening strike? Why are tropical rain forests the lungs of our planet? Curious kids want to know everything about their planet. They’ll find the answers to their questions here, as they investigate our world from its core to its cosmic connections.

National Geographic Visual Encyclopedia of Earth offers a wealth of comprehensive, easy-to-follow insight into our planet in lively, fun-to-read text.

Children's Literature

As befits an encyclopedia, this hefty title (with its lovely glossy paper) is full of fascinating information. In addition, it is beautifully put together in eight sections, each exploring an aspect of our planet from its position in space to the history of life on Earth and details of Earth's ecosystems, weather, tectonic plates, rocks, and resources. A well designed chapter, "Dynamic Earth," explains phenomena like volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, geysers, and glaciers in striking color photos, cross sections, and diagrams. Another section takes young Earth scientists on a tour of the world's oceans, each map accompanied by photos of marine wildlife, and then moves on to currents, waves, tides, and habitats like coasts, reefs, depths, and the ocean floor. (Called simply "Land," one 50-page chapter could easily make all by itself a beautifully illustrated book about our physical environment.) Especially timely are pages about global warming and freezing; for example, a detailed painting of human use of the frozen River Thames during the "Little Ice Age," and a chapter about power sources: oil, gas, coal, sun, wind, and water. Color photos are exceptionally well chosen; drawings and paintings are attractive and clearly illustrative of their subjects; information is intriguing—National Geographic has done it again! Browser friendly as well as an exceptional reference book for classrooms and libraries, this lovely book would also make an impressive gift for some lucky Earth explorer. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft

VOYA

This atlas-like book uses eight heavily illustrated chapters to attempt to chart all the information there is about this planet. "Our Place in Space" shows Earth's connections to the sun, moon, and other celestial bodies. "History of Life" explains how it all began and where it has gone, including mass extinctions. "Inside Earth" goes from the molten core to the minerals and stones found on the surface. "Dynamic Earth" explores the forces that shape the globe, from volcanoes to ice ages. "Oceans" and "Land" touch on those topics in all their forms and diversity. "Weather" explains the processes that create the climate, and "Earth's Resources" looks at how humans use coal, oil, gas, solar, wind, and water power. As the book is meant as an overview of the entire planet, nothing is explained in depth, therefore in trying to cover too much, it does not cover enough. There are photos and illustrations galore—maps, charts, and time lines are everywhere—but not every map or illustration is explained, which can lead to confusion. A map of the moon is multicolored. Why? What do the varied colors represent? Readers may never know. The broadness of the subject makes it seem as if the book is meant for young elementary school students rather than middle schoolers. This publisher usually offers high quality reading and research material, but this book disappointingly falls rather flat. Reviewer: Geri Diorio

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