Mom, Dad, can you tell me about..." Here's the perfect gift for kids interested in...anything. This unique mixture of atlas of the world and encyclopedia will answer any question they can come up with about the world around us. Inside these lively, colorful pages are earth's secrets, from our place in space to the formation of the continents to geological activity, and an introduction to every kind of wildlife and animal habitat. A presentation of human civilizations throughout history discusses language, clothing, celebrations, and different ways of worship. Maps of every country and many cities, plus flags of every nation, complete this engaging tour of planet Earth and its inhabitants. Features include: Four books in one-divided into Planet Earth, Wildlife of the World, People and Places, and an Atlas-with an easy-to-follow structure. Fascinating facts on subjects ranging from natural history to ancient history, farming, and art. Pages filled with lively, eye-catching photographs and illustrations of our solar system, natural wonders, historical monuments, and animal life. Simple, effective charts and colorful relief maps of the seven continents present information at a glance. Grade 4-6-Well, not quite "everything"-but this wide-ranging browsers' delight does flit among a multitude of subjects related to the Earth, wildlife, people, and places. Each topical spread is a busy, text-heavy mix of small photos, paintings, and maps surrounded by flurries of explanatory paragraphs in various type styles, and finished off at the bottom with see-also references to other spreads. Regional maps in the final section expand to page size or beyond, framed by flags and statistical summaries. The lack of a clear division between the subject index and the unlabeled gazetteer is a potential source of confusion, but readers seeking just a quick bit of background on natural or man-made wonders, volcanoes, world religions, art and culture (one spread), great disasters, or a plethora of other terrestrial topics will be absorbed by this omnium-gatherum. John Peters, New York Public Library Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.