10 Children's Books (Almost) As Awesome as The Book of Knowledge

Old enough to remember this?
"My granddaughter is 6 now and in 1st grade! She's beginning to ask questions like "is air heavy?" When I was a kid my parents got me The Book of Knowledge. Why is the sky blue? How come things fall down, not up? I remember reading every page! Today the Internet can answer those questions, but how about those things you never think about? Can you recommend books with info about questions like these? What are today's successors to The Book of Knowledge?" -- Richard


As you know, Richard, new is not necessarily better. Wasn't The Book of Knowledge the BEST? Everything was in there!

Here are my recommendations:


The iconic National Geographic is #Awesome, with:

1. What in the World?
2. 5000 Awesome Facts (About Everything!)
3. Why? 1,111 Answers to Everything

These daring and dangerous books are timeless and ageless, and I ordered them for our library:

 


4. The Daring Book for Girls (and 5. The Double-Daring Book for Girls), by Andrea J. Buchanan
6. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hall Iggulden

Saving the best for last:
Encyclopedic children-of-all-ages book publishing ROYALTY in my opinion is Dorling Kindersley

DK's consistently award-winning content and the distinctive look and elegant feel of DK paper books make for a most fulfilling book experience!

Here are my top four DK children's book recommendations:

 7.  Children's Illustrated Encyclopedia
 8.  First Encyclopedia
 9.  Merriam-Webster Illustrated Dictionary
10. Smithsonian Picturepedia

Save your pennies for when your granddaughter turns 8, Richard. You'll probably want to get some of DK's beautiful Eyewitness titles.

So the short answer is: it will take at least 10 books to replace our beloved Book of Knowledge!


On a serious note: Mahalo for passing on your reading love and thirst for knowledge to your granddaughter, Richard. She is one lucky girl. 


(◕‿◕) about.me [Subscribe]  

P. S. This "books and reading" post marks the official merge of my SEABURY READS blog with mauilibrarian2.com. See my transition post at: SEABURY READS is moving to mauilibrarian2.com!