When I was a kid, we owned the complete set of those thick, brown World Book Encyclopedias. Somewhere in my fading memory, I think I can even remember the day my parents bought them from a traveling, door-to-door salesman. These hefty volumes were categorized alphabetically and whenever I got bored, I remember choosing a letter, plopping myself down somewhere, skimming through the pages, and stopping at whatever caught my eye. I remember doing this quite often and spent lots of time, discovering new and fascinating things.
Fast forward 30 years and today, the encyclopedias of the world are a dying breed, instead of the World Book, we have the World Wide Web.
And being that I’m in no hurry to introduce my children to any form of technology, I’m thrilled to own the Usborne Children’s Encyclopedia. We own many Usborne books covering various topics and we value them all. Usborne does a wonderful job of providing beautiful pictures as well as pertinent content, in a way that appeals to both the young and old.
I love the fact that each day, the girls can browse through the encyclopedia and choose something they’re interested in learning more about. For example, so far this week, we’ve covered various topics such as fungi, baby mammals, grasslands (or prairies), the body, plant world, and friction. This particular children’s encyclopedia is the internet-linked version so if you wanted to delve deeper into a particular subject, it also provides helpful links to visit online. Some of the topics even include simple and fun experiments to help reinforce the information.
Most of all, I love how this book (which sits on our coffee table in our living room) has become a source of inspiration in the curious young minds of our children. It serves as a trigger (or a catalyst) for discovery and imagination. It also gives the girls freedom to choose what they’re drawn to at any particular moment.
Do I think encyclopedias are making a comeback in American homes? Sadly, probably not.
However, perhaps my children will fondly remember the endless array of interesting pictures and topics, included their Usborne Children’s Encyclopedia.
In 1973, Peter Usborne decided that educational, non-fiction books would need to change in order to compete with TV and comics. He borrowed some ideas from those two media and hired educational consultants to oversee the writing to make sure that the books would satisfy the child's interest, but also arouse it. Explanatory books which merely explain are doing only half the job; if a book fails to make its subject attractive and interesting to the reader, chances are the explanation will fail.
Usborne Books are designed graphically to draw the students in, to make them want to learn the material and to help them retain that knowledge.
The magic of Usborne Books is that they make both reading and learning fun and not a boring or intimidating experience. Peter Usborne set out to break down a child's resistance to reading and learning at home.
This book has become one of our treasured favorites as well. I'm most impressed with how much Levi, at just 2 years old, loves it too. It's often the first book he goes too!
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