Seeking recommendations children's encyclopedia style books

[Amanda U]

Hi,
Does anyone recommend any particular set of encyclopedia style reference books for children? I know I'm old school with this request! I love the children seeking answers with books before we look up an answer online. Any recommendations are appreciated!

Thanks

[enbateau]

We have picked up some really cheap reference texts from thrift shops for a buck or two. We got a 2004 era Atlas that is at least 2 feet tall, and when we do Geography I, we break it out to look at mineral resources, mountain ranges, etc.

For scence I

[enbateau]

(Sorry, my phone has been acting funny the past few days on the forum in that every time I hit the enter button, it asks if I want to erase my post...I have to figure out if my touch sensitivity has been changed.)

So, for science, we have enjoyed the First ________ Encyclopedia series from DK. They're much more affordable from RR (around $12-ish) a piece. Even though they are secular (and we are young earth creationists), they have fewer references that dwell on macro evolution and millions of years than texts geared toward older children. We have First Animal Encyclopedia and First Space Encyclopedia. They are written at a 3rd grade reading level with snippets that are memorable and interesting versus overwhelming. Sometimes, science books overwhelm with technical jargon that impedes understanding and makes the process less independent. They also have cute trivia questions at the bottom of every other page. There are quite a few now on the planet Earth, the human body, the ocean, etc.

For insects, trees, and birds, the Peterson field guides that MP sells are great references that will get used over and over...and then when you reach each grade to study each as a subject, it's one less thing to buy. We even bought an expanded Peterson field guide for trees because my kids are obsessed with identifying trees. A walk doesn't happen in our house without collecting hairy or hairless acorn caps, flower buds or opposite vs. alternating tree branch samples. It's small enough to throw in a bike basket or shoulder bag. We also use all of our K-2 science readers from Gail Gibbons, Let's Read and Find Out Science, Cat in the Hat's Learning Library, and more over and over. We've even picked up a few new titles from the LRaFO series, especially How a City Works.

My only advice against investing more than a few bucks in a newer Encyclopedia set is that data like population, government, currency, GDP, flags, etc, is always changing....even city names, borders and capitals change. You need to use a lot of prudence with texts that are over 15 years old as to make sure the information is still accurate.

[Meg]

We use a lot of the Usborne books, which are secular. We have the Science, History, and Geography Encyclopedias as well as the Children's Encyclopedia which has information on a variety of topics and which you probably do not need if you have the other books. We also have the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia which has more detailed information and is written on a slightly higher reading level than the Usborne book.

The Usborne books are "internet-linked", meaning you can go to their website and find links to places on the internet for more information, but you can use the books perfectly fine without the internet. We rarely use the internet links as they are mostly youtube videos or games and I prefer to just use the books. All of these books are really colorful with lots of pictures, and it is really nice to be reading about a topic and say, "I think there's a picture of that is this book," and just pull it off the shelf.

We also inherited a lot of books from relatives on various topics which are all adult books, but can be really useful if you just want a specific question answered. If you ever wanted to read 500 pages on The Deer of North America, we've got it, along with Owls of the World and Birding and on and on and on. I wouldn't recommend buying any of these books, but if you have relatives offering you some from their collection you might want to consider them if you have the room.

[Mom2mthj]

We have many of the DK encyclopedia type books almost all of which have been purchased at Costco.

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I also have many of the Usborne reference/non-fiction books that we use multiple times a week. They are secular/evolutionary but I have found ways to get around certain statements that are printed in them, such as in reference to the “millions of years ago” I simply say “A long time ago” (my girls are young and we will move to a more in depth discussion at a later time). They have such great illustrations that are colorful and easy to explain, as Meg stated above!
We have The Children’s Encyclopedia, The Illustrated Dictionary, First Illustrated Grammer and Punctuation, Big Picture Thesaurus, Big Picture Atlas, 1,000 things in Nature, Woodland Book, First Illustrated Math Dictionary and the Science Encyclopedia. I enjoy all of these and will use them for quite a while. We also have multiple Usborne lift the flap books (non fiction) that are highlight specific areas of study and are just fabulous (i.e. Weather & Climate, Bugs & Butterfly’s, How Things Work, Human Body).
what I love most about these books is that the girls will pick them up almost anytime and sit and look through them by themselves!

............................
Meaghan

1st year Homeschooling and MP
DDs (twins) 4 - Jr K, All About Reading Pre1
DS 3 mo

[Amanda U]

This is great! Thank you for your suggestions! I love how I'll realize my oldest just sat and would read through information-heavy books. The library has been fluctuating the number of books we're allowed to request so I wanted to look on thriftbooks for quality books to have at home.