DK Books Replacement For The Encyclopedia

Uggh, it pains me to write this since I’ve mentioned how much I miss the old school print version of the encyclopedia, but we have to grow with the times and acknowledge things change. Ok, so the encyclopedia was unwieldy and took up a lot of room, but there was something wonderful about it that helped to ignite curiosity in us as children back in our day and age. Today, there are options that can serve the same basic function without the price tag or space requirements. In particular I’m somewhat fond of the DK Eyewitness books. These books are all well written and richly illustrated. They are quite good by any measure, although a far cry from the Encyclopedia Britanica or World Books. Rather than alphabetical, they go by topic, The Human Body, Planets, Ocean, Mythology, etcetera. In the broader scheme of things on an apples to apples basis they don’t hold up to the encyclopedias for sheer information, but in terms of offering kids that sense of wonder and exploration of topics, they do an excellent job. The imagery alone is out of this world. Recommend making the investment in the full series, if you can find it. This particular series of books has gone in and out of print over time, although it appears that they are currently in update and reprint now. While Amazon definitely has them all, if you want to check out what is the latest and greatest versions go directly to the DK website.