Before we had access to the Internet and search engines we used to use encyclopedias to help us answer our questions and learn new facts, a concept that I explained to my daughter when she asked me ‘how we found out the answers to our questions in the olden days’! My Encyclopedia of Very IMPORTANT THINGS has given her a wonderful insight into what an encyclopaedia is and how it works and has shown her that if we want answers to our questions we don’t always need to rush to a computer!
We’ve really enjoyed browsing through My Encyclopedia of Very IMPORTANT THINGS, it’s a sturdy hardback with a beautiful green ribbon to use as a bookmark. The double page spreads are a mix of illustrations, text and photographs, some landscape and some portrait. The encyclopedia is split into six colour coded sections which are clearly explained at the front of the book and throughout the book a title page for each section introduces the main theme with a short description. At the back of the book is a simple, easy to use index which is great for beginner readers.
Very important things about my planet includes information about space, the earth, weather and various types of landscapes including deserts and rainforests. We also discovered what causes an earthquake, a question that my daughter asked fairly recently.
Very important things about places includes an overview of the seven continents. The following pages spotlight each individual continent and show a map and postcards that represent the country. We love the postcard of the Emperor Penguins in Antarctica.
Very important things about animals includes an overview of the different species. It includes mammals, dinosaurs, how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly and animal habitats. It even includes the story of The tortoise and the hare.
Very important things about people takes us on a journey from very early humans and their lifestyles to the people of today. Including people from all continents it also introduces us to festivals and celebrations around the world, important inventors and scientists and various modes of transport including the moon landing in 1969.
Very important things about me introduces the body as an amazing machine. Illustrations show us how our organs, skeleton and muscles look and how blood travels around the body. The importance of sleep and healthy eating are included as are developments in medicine. This section gives a child lots of information about their body and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Some other very important things includes a miscellany of interesting information from greetings around the world to the flags of different countries to cloud formations. It’s a great section to introduce younger children to basic vocabulary such as colours, shapes, numbers and musical instruments. We particularly like the top 10 lists at the end of this section, my daughter was fascinated by the top 10 deadly animals while I found the top 10 largest countries list interesting.
This really is a fascinating first encyclopedia which my husband and I have both enjoyed sharing with our daughter, it provides introductions to so many basic concepts and a springboard to further learning. It would be a fabulous addition to an Early Years / Key Stage One classroom and is a great book to encourage children to read more non fiction.
Age Range: 4 +
Thank you to Dorling Kindersley for sending us a copy of this wonderful book which has proved to be a fantastic learning resource for everybody in the family!
We have this too and it is our first port of call for so many things.
#readwithme
I think that it’s a really great first encyclopedia.
Love the idea of this as we rely so heavily on technology these days, I’m guilty of asking Google! Thanks for sharing with #ReadWIthMe
We often ask Google but I don’t think that you can beat a book like this for a good browse. This encyclopedia answers questions that you don’t even know you have and introduces children (and adults!) to some really interesting information.
Sounds a great book. I had Junior Pears Encyclopedia as a child. Beyond that I either used my Dad’s one or looked at the ones in the library #readwithme
I remember a whole set at school but I’m sure that we had children’s encyclopaedias at home as well.
I love the look of this. I had a full Kids encyclopedia range as a child and they came in handy for homework for years. That was all pre internet but even now I think its great for kids to look things up in a book. #TriedTested
The great things about an encyclopedia is that you often get sidetracked and look up more than you intended to in the first place! This definitely happened with us here 🙂
Love ‘the olden days’ – nothing like making you feel ancient! I do like my kids to have dictionaries, atlases and encyclopaedias and this one looks fun and interesting.
This encyclopedia is a great one and some of the things that we did in ‘the olden days’ are still relevant now 🙂
These look fabulous. I will order these for my school library! Thanks for the post!
This would be perfect for a school library, Dorling Kindersley produce some fabulous non fiction books 🙂
My children’s father collected a load of children encyclopedia’s for when she was older- and she loves them! I’m not sure if they’re a little out of date since everything gets updated and rediscovered and scientists realise they were wrong about this and that etc but she loves reading through hers! and she’s a big internet user so that says something lol!) thanks for sharing #readwithme
I think that some facts can become outdated but that’s when you can turn to the Internet to cross check them 🙂
A good reminder to buy more non-fiction for my grandchildren.
This looks a really useful book.
#Readwithme
This is a great book and not just for children! My husband and I enjoyed browsing through it too 🙂
Wow this looks perfect for Oliver, he literally wants to know everything about everything. He’s just about to turn 4 in December and his preschool have basically said he’s extremely high achieving. He asks so many questions so it would be good to have a book to refer to about the kind of things he asks. At the moment we are resorting to YouTube videos aimed at children!
#TriedTested
It sounds like Oliver is the perfect age for this book 🙂
I was only explaining to my eldest the other week about life before Google! I remember using encyclopedias at school or even having Encarta at home. Sounds mad now.
Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x
I think that it’s still important that we teach our children how to use encyclopedias, you can never be sure that what you find on the Internet is 100% accurate.
I used to love encyclopedias when I was little – this looks fab #TriedTested
You can spend hours browsing through encyclopedias, we’ve spent a lot of time with this one 🙂