Climb aboard for an exciting and educational journey around the world with this information-packed atlas! Journey from continent to continent with the help of state-of-the art maps that depict in extraordinary detail each country's topography, cities, borders, and other features. Locator maps for each continent and country provide a clear global perspective. Succinct text, hundreds of photographs and illustrations, and easy-to-read charts of facts and figures help curious young geographers understand what life is like in these faraway places, and explore everything from customs and cultures to economic systems and climates. Includes country flags and a section on mapmaking and usage. Grade 4-6. This inviting, profusely illustrated atlas partners high-quality maps with vibrant text in a solid introduction to the geography of today's world, providing a cultural, historical, and political perspective. Organized by continent and then by country, the book presents a plethora of factual information in a logical, user-friendly fashion. Busy yet serviceable double-page spreads with lucid text address topics such as landscape, climate, economy, history, peoples and languages, government, culture, architecture, and religion; locator globes and flags are also included. High-quality color photos and illustrations are accompanied by informative captions. Distracting black-and-white borders frame each spread. The introductory chapters are augmented by fact boxes comprised of up-to-date statistics about geographic points of interest ("The Earth") and tidbits such as the "Most crowded country" or "Largest city" ("The Continents"). The highlight of this resource is the stellar array of meticulously detailed, computer-generated relief maps that show capital cities, borders, mountains, etc. A well-composed supplementary section of charts, arranged by continent, provides a current statistical overview of the area, population, capital city, and major products of each country. The table of contents and comprehensive index are superb. With its less cluttered format, The National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our World (National Geographic, 1994) is also a fascinating and informative introduction to the continents and countries.?Hillary Jan Donitz-Goldstein, New York Public Library Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. “This inviting, profusely illustrated atlas partners high-quality maps with vibrant text in a solid introduction to the geography of today's world, providing a cultural, historical, and political perspective. Organized by continent and then by country, the book presents a plethora of factual information in a logical, user-friendly fashion . . . double-page spreads with lucid text address topics such as landscape, climate, economy, history, peoples and languages, government, culture, architecture, and religion; locator globes and flags are also included. High-quality color photos and illustrations are accompanied by informative captions . . . The introductory chapters are augmented by fact boxes comprised of up-to-date statistics about geographic points of interest . . . and tidbits such as the 'Most crowded country' or 'Largest city' . . . The highlight of this resource is the stellar array of meticulously detailed, computer-generated relief maps that show capital cities, borders, mountains, etc. A well-composed supplementary section of charts, arranged by continent, provides a current statistical overview of the area, population, capital city, and major products of each country. The table of contents and comprehensive index are superb.” ― Hillary Jan Donitz-Goldstein, New York Public Library, School Library Journal Miranda Smith is a long-standing editor of information books for both children and adults and is the author of Kingfisher Knowledge: Sharks.