Natural History (DK Definitive Visual Encyclopedias)

This is an amazing book! I can't believe this hardcover book is less than $30! When this book arrived, I showed it to my husband and asked him how much he thought I paid for the book. His answer was that he thought it was easily over $100. He was amazed when I told him how much I paid for it.The vast amount of illustrations and photographs are fantastic (it can be hard to tell which is which) and it contains so much information. I am a n artist and have used this book on several occasions for inspiration. It will always have space on my bookshelf until I am too old and feeble to pick up this heavy and rather large book.While it does have a Kindle version, I prefer my reference books to be hardcopies rather than a digital format. There is nothing like opening a book such as this to a random page just to see what there is. This is not a book that you can read from back to front (well, at least I can't), but to be experienced by looking up a specific species or to find treasures through random acts of book openings.I am currently doing to series on African birds thanks to the inspiration I've found in this book. But you don't have to be an artist to enjoy and admire this book! My 9-year old grandson who is obsessed with all things oceanic and knows every species of dinosaurs that has been discovered, loves this book every bit as much as I do!Well done, Penguin Random House, Dk, and the Smithsonian Institute for making such a book at such an affordable price range that almost anyone can afford. The quality of the book, while isn't superb (which would make it truly out of reach for most of us), it is really good. The pages are glossy and have a little bit of weight to them. It's not built to last generations, but that is not necessary to spark the imagination or the thirst for knowledge in a young mind. And isn't that the point?

This book is more than worth the money. Great value. It covers literally everything. Highly recommend.

My kids have gobble up any book on the natural world - and they have two scientist, parents that are picky about the quality of the scientific information. It’s been getting harder to find books that provide new information and keep them captivated. This book absolutely nailed it along with gorgeous pictures. It’s a staple on my 7 and 10 yo’s nightstand.

Very nostalgic, I’m a 90s kid and this is a necessity to have on hand. Very informative, but plenty of color. Like an adult picture book. Looking for more to buy.

I am blown away by the gorgeous images in this book. The huge array of topics paired with concise narratives make for a comprehensive reference book good for all ages. Our family particularly likes minerals, and the array descriptions is impressive. I decided to look in the glossary for, what I think, is an obscure mineral: Sodalite. Sure enough, there it was on page 61 in all its blue glory.While this would make a great coffee table book, the Kindle version is also excellent. Keep your device in landscape mode to view two pages at time and portrait mode for one page. You can zoom in and out to adjust view magnification. On the glossary… the print is quite fine, so I pretty much guarantee that you will need to zoom in to see the entries.For the price, particularly with Kindle, this book is an outstanding value. It is a nice gateway for youngsters to get ready for advanced science classes. Definitely 5 stars!

Lavishly illustrated! Enjoyed and shared by different aged family members. A great resource and just fun to look through.

I was very happy when this book finally was offered in a version for Kindle Books. It is the single greatest book on world wildlife, covering species from all over the world, with a short, basic description to accompany each beautiful image, as well as more detailed coverage of some select species. It even could serve as a pretty good guidebook for common wildlife species in the United States.Here are some examples. Among the protists, they include 20 species of rhizarians (radiolarians, cercozoans and forams). Among the plants are 41 species of the order Rosales (rose, plum, cherry, fig, elm, etc.); this includes a 2-page description of the sweetbriar rose of Europe and nearby areas of Asia and Africa, and now widespread in the world. Among the insects, they include 49 species of beetles and 67 species of moths and butterflies. They include 85 species of rodents (rats, beavers, squirrels, etc.) including a 2-page description of the African crested porcupine. In the very large section on mammalian carnivores, coverage ranges from a few breeds of domestic cats and dogs to 4 species of the Eupleridae of Madagascar. They cover 237 species of passerine birds (e.g., the songbirds) including many common backyard birds of the U.S. For example, one can compare the northern cardinal (Cardinalidae) of eastern U.S. and Mexico, to the similar but unrelated red-crested cardinal (Thraupidae; the tanagers) of South America.

Me personally I just love collections and just large amounts of information that does not go to much into detail. This book has a LOT of that; paired with the internet you can individually search about things pertaining to your interests. I mainly got this for the Geology side of things but I am sure I will be using it for more in the near future. Plus I just love all the vibrant and seemingly endless colors on display, works great when I need to distract my nieces or nephews.