I’ve always wanted to know why. It’s why I became a librarian, in fact. My original plan was to become a reference librarian. During my post-grad course I revelled in all the hard copy information sources into whose mysteries we were inducted, but sadly technology, which had always been just slightly behind me, came up at a gallop and overtook me as I qualified.

The popular opinion these days is that everything is online (not true) and that reference books are obsolete (also not true). And what is the case is that much of what is online is, once again, not true, and that it can be difficult to decide what is. And that’s where books like this come into their own.

It’s an introduction to the world of knowledge for young readers but I have to say that I enjoyed it too. It has both contents and index, making the information easily found. And when it is, it comes in grouped sections of clear and bold chunks with engaging illustrations.

The truth is that it’s really this simple: accessible information for children presented in a way sure to appeal to them. Simple.
We had the Encyclopaedia Britannica, whichever year in the mid-80s there was a new edition, and I loved it!