Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
One Million Things: A Visual Encyclopedia
Nonfiction
For ages 10 and up
Dorling Kindersley, 2008 ISBN: 978-0756638436
Imagine what one million pieces of information would like. Well, you don’t need to stretch your imagination at all because this book contains one million fascinating and even extraordinary pieces of information that readers of all ages will enjoy exploring.
The beauty of this book is that those pieces of information are not just thrown down onto the pages randomly. Instead, they are arranged into eight chapters, each one of which is subdivided into sections or articles that cover a single topic. For example, in the first chapter the authors focus on looking at nature. Here readers will find articles about the main animal and plant families, and they will also learn about things such as feeding, life cycles, eggs, and sleep.
Each article takes up two pages (one double-page spread) and they all have one thing in common; they all present their information using photographs that are heavily annotated with informative text. There is only a short introductory section of text in each section. This reader-friendly format not only makes gives the reader pages that are engaging and enjoyable to explore, but it is also attractive to people who are put off by books that have a lot of text and very little artwork or photographs.
In addition to the chapter about nature, there is also the chapter about the human body, science and technology, space, Earth, people and places, history, and art and culture. There is something here for everyone, and the format gives readers the freedom to dip into the book at will. On can explore a whole chapter or hop from topic to topic.
Throughout the book there are extraordinary color photographs presented in clever ways so that each spread is unique, attractive, and absorbing.
