A World of Fun and Learning

These books will get your kids interested in history, nature and the world around them.

Picturpedia: an Encyclopedia on Every Page by DK Smithsonian (Penguin Random House, $29.99) Ages 9-12
Open a page to a topic, and learn all about it, with more than 10,000 photos and illustrations, and text that will keep kids engaged. A two-page spread on snakes, for instance, lists the five snake families with photos that can help kids and adults know which snakes are friends and which ones it’s best to avoid. You’ll also find fun facts, such as a 60-million-year-old fossil of a snake found in Columbia – it was 50 feet long and weighed 2,500 pounds.

Historium currated by Richard Wilkinson and Jo Nelson (Big Picture Press, $35) Ages 8-12
This “museum” contains a wide-ranging selection of ancient civilizations explored through archeological artifacts. Take a tour of Ancient Egypt or Ancient China or visit Ancient Persia or many other cultures in the Historium’s six galleries – Africa, America, Asia, Europe, The Middle East and Oceania. Some of the objects are so eye-catching, kids will just have to read about them, including one of the mysterious and massive stone statues that populate Easter Island.

Countries by Mack’s World of Wonder (Clavis New York, $22.95) Ages 5 and older
This book engages kids in a study of geography – by presenting fun facts in an easy-to-read and easy-to-understand format. One section on Brazil highlights the Amazon forest, “the biggest tropical rainforest in the world … Monkeys use vines to swing from branch to branch, and the air is filled with the sounds of croaking frogs and growling panthers. There are also some Indian tribes who live in the forest. They hunt with bows and arrows. They understand all the plants and know exactly which ones will heal them when they get sick.”