Point of Reference: The National Geographic Almanac 2011

With over 500 amazing photos and more than 5000 fascinating facts right at their fingertips, National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011 is one handy reference book that kids won't have to be urged to use.

There are plenty of catchy questions to stump their friends: for example, what is the world's tallest building and where is it? (Burj Khalifa in Dubai), and solid chapters which provide basic information on subject such as American Wars, Mythology (Percy Jackson fans love this one), Presidents, Countries of the World, First Ladies, the 50 States, Disasters, History Happenings, Oceanography, Dinosaurs--all the usual topics kids enjoy, written in easy-to-read prose.

In addition to its subject-oriented chapters, there are over 50 puzzles, projects, experiments, and just plain cool things to think about doing (underwater pumpkin carving?) as well as fifteen homework helper sections, including devising a project to help the family go green.

Many design features make this book especially appealing to upper elementary students--each page layout has text broken up by fact boxes, small and large photos, and Zipper the Dog, the "virtual pet," who alerts kids to "Cool Clicks," web links which enable kids to read more about subjects such as King Tut, Otzi the Iceman, the hybrid "liger," or the almanac's "5 Cool Dudes"--explorers Marco Polo, Ponce de Leon, David Livingstone, Robert Peary, and Ferdinand Magellan.

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2011 is itself just a link to all the information about all the amazing things out there for kids to explore, an inexpensive and handy way to begin to become a "cool dude" themselves.

Other kid-friendly reference books include Weird But True: 300 Outrageous Facts (National Geographic Kids) and Time For Kids Almanac 2011.

Reference This! Time for Kids BIG Book of Why

WHAT DOES http mean?

WHY WAS HARRY POTTER AN ORPHAN?

WHY WAS SECRETARIAT THE FASTEST RACE HORSE IN HISTORY?

WHY ARE MOVIES CALLED "FLICKS?"*

Bet you can't stop at just one question! And the 2011 edition of TIME for Kids BIG Book of Why: 1,001 Facts Kids Want to Know (Time for Kids Magazine) (Time for Kids, 2011) has 1001 intriguing answers for these and many other questions that most of us, can't fully answer. Some of the 1001 questions are the sort that most of us don't ever think to ask, e.g., why does a web address begin with http? At first glance this little book seems to be just for the short-term curious: pick it up, read the answer, and that's it. Why are basketballs orange? They once were an indifferent brown, but when games began to be televised, basketballs began to be colored orange to make them more visible on screen.

But the virtue of this small volume reference book is that some of its quirky questions can inspire further inquiry in the reader. Case in point: why do golf balls have dimples? Well, it seems they didn't always. When golfers noticed that old, nicked-up balls went farther, aerodynamicists got into the act and created the dimpled ball, a form which creates turbulent flow, with differences in the flow above and below the ball which add to its flight distance. That question leads to a whole other level of inquiry about how airflow affects the flight of moving objects--curve balls, airplanes, long jumpers, missiles.

To entice those who favor one particular subject area, TIME for Kids BIG Book of Why: 1,001 Facts Kids Want to Know (Time for Kids Magazine) is divided into ten subject divisions--Animals, Earth, Space, Humans, People and Places, History, Science, Technology, Art and Culture, Sports, backed up by an appendix which includes a glossary, index, Why Facts, and a bibliography of further reading. Once into these fascinating bits of information, 1001 facts may not be quite enough for 2011!

And for kids for whom 1001 facts aren't quite enough to amaze and delight their friends, there’s always Time Editors new TIME For Kids That's Awesome: The World's Most Amazing Facts & Records (Worlds Most Amazing Facts/Records).


*Answers: Hypertext transfer protocol is the format for internet text.

As she began the first book, author J.K. Rowling's mother had recently passed away, leaving her an adult orphan.

Secretariat's heart, at 22 pounds, was twice the size of a normal thoroughbred's.

Early movie films were hand-cranked, making them "flicker" on the screen.