e.encyclopedia

A superbly illustrated general encyclopedia for children includes links to a dedicated website which offers more information about each subject, along with streaming audio and video. 75,000 first printing.

Respected educational publisher DK partners with the world's leading online search engine Google to create the innovative e-encyclopedia, a hefty, heavily illustrated hardcover reference book for young scholars that also refers its readers to their exclusive, kid-friendly web site. Featuring more than 2,000 full-color images, the book covers nine major subject areas: Space, Earth, Nature, Human Body, Science and Technology, People and Places, Society and Beliefs, Arts and Entertainment, and History. Each of the 600 entries provides illustrations and brief, easily digestible tidbits of information about everything from why the Rhine River is so important to Europe to what the brain is made of. If a grey "e" button is visible on the page, that means a treasury of online resources will be available when you search the DK/Google web site for the designated keyword--links that include animations, videos, sound buttons, virtual tours, interactive quizzes, databases, timelines, or real-time reports.

Say you want to learn about rockets. You look it up in the index and find it called out in bold for page 101. Here you'll see a photograph and a brief description of a rocket and how it works. You'll also find the gray "e" button, signaling you to type in "rockets" as a keyword into the given web site. Once you do that, you'll find the following kid-friendly links: 1) How do you launch a rocket from a spinning planet? 2) Launch the space shuttle into orbit beside the ISS, and 3) Visit a rocketry and space flight gallery. Children are also directed towards downloadable images and more directories of related links. Subjects such as metamorphosis provide less-satisfying results, as the page gives the briefest of explanations and a ladybug larva-adult diagram, but no keyword link to the special web site. Still, this useful book offers the possibility of hours of browsing, both on and off-line, giving kids a rich, multimedia learning experience while assuring parents of a kid-safe Internet zone. (Ages 8 and older) --Karin Snelson