16 best children's encyclopedias

Review of the best according to the editorial board. On the selection criteria. This material is subjective and does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.

Children's curiosity will easily be satisfied with a properly selected thematic encyclopedia. A boring book with clear explanations of phenomena and things, vivid illustrations and interesting presentation of material will be a good guide to the world of new knowledge for young inquisitive minds of different ages. The portal presents a rating of 16 best children's encyclopedias.

Rating of the best children's encyclopedias

Nomination	a place	Book	rating
Rating of the best children's encyclopedias	1	Why and why. Encyclopedia for the curious	5.0
	2	Undersea world	4.9
	3	Big children's 3D encyclopedia about everything in the world	4.8
	4	Insects	4.7
	5	Botanicum	4.6
	6	Modern children's encyclopedia	4.5
	7	Children's encyclopedia. 5000 important events and interesting facts	4.4
	8	Encyclopedia for children. Animal world record holders	4.3
	9	Encyclopedia for children. Volume 6. Religions of the World	4.2
	10	The great journey through the human body	4.2
	11	Great children's encyclopedia	4.1
	12	Seasons	4.0
	13	Nature of Russia	4.0
	14	Ancient civilizations. Egypt, Greece, Rome	4.0
	15	An interactive biology encyclopedia with stickers, games and crafts	3.9

Why and why. Encyclopedia for the curious (Machaon Publishing, 2016)

Rating: 5.0

The most interesting encyclopedic book 'Why and Why. Encyclopedia for the curious'. It contains answers to the most common and tricky children's questions from all areas of life: where do children come from, how the seasons change, how the world works, who the knights are, why penguins do not fly and many others. The pages are full of colorful pictures, large text font, easy to read, including for children. True, the answers are given short, not detailed, so a lot of the child will have to give additional explanations.

Based on the reviews, the book is suitable for children aged 4 and older. It can also become a desktop encyclopedia for a primary school student who is actively mastering information about the world around him.

Underwater World (Vladis Publishing, 2018)

Rating: 4.9

The mysterious world of seas and oceans will become a little closer with the 'Underwater World' encyclopedia. This is a book with vivid illustrations and photographs on glossy pages, which depicts the amazing inhabitants of the salty waters of the World Ocean. The child learns that not only fish, but also mammals live under water, will get acquainted with a variety of flora and fauna. The authors present the history of the development of the marine world from ancient times to the present day, provide information about the inhabitants of the depth and upper waters, ecosystem and ecology.

The book contains many answers to questions about the underwater world, provides interesting facts, the material is presented in an interesting way – in small blocks and replicas in separate windows.

Big children's 3D encyclopedia about everything (AST Publishing House, Avanta +, 2017)

Rating: 4.8

In third place in the rating is the colorful and voluminous book 'Big Children's 3D Encyclopedia about Everything in the World'. There are many sections in it, from acquaintance with the structure of the Universe to the history of man, the child will get acquainted with the kingdoms of animals, plants, learn how technology works and progress develops. A lot of interesting facts, the material presented is available to expand the horizons of kids from preschool age. The information is presented succinctly, there is not much of it, but the essence is conveyed quite clearly. The peculiarity of the book is vivid illustrations, including those with 3D effect – many pictures move! This will allow you to visually understand how the world works, which is especially useful for children who better perceive new information visually. The movement of the northern lights, celestial flares, marine life and other phenomena are presented on the pages of the encyclopedia.

The 3D effect is obtained when viewing images through a smartphone or tablet with the free ASTAR program installed.

Insects (Eksmo Publishing, 2018)

Rating: 4.7

The next encyclopedia in the ranking is devoted, oddly enough, to insects. Etymologists from all over the world have collected the most prominent representatives of this kingdom and presented them in a book with vivid and realistic illustrations and photographs. The book will be interesting for both adults and children – everyone will find out which insect is the most poisonous or safe, large or small, fast, aggressive.

The encyclopedia presents the life of insects in all details: how they are born, with whom they interact in nature, what function they perform in the ecosystem.

Botanicum (Machaon Publishing House, 2016)

Rating: 4.6

For lovers of the plant world, the Botanicum encyclopedia from the Eksmo publishing house will be of interest. This voluminous book can be compared to a real botanical museum, which presents all kinds of protozoa, mushrooms, representatives of the lichen family and plants from small coltsfoot to huge sequoiadendrons and predatory tropical flowers. The encyclopedia will tell you where which representatives of the flora grow, which ones should be feared, and which ones will help get rid of the disease in the form of an extract.

The authors also present the evolution of plants over thousands of years and explain what has helped many of them survive to this day.

Modern children's encyclopedia (Machaon publishing house)

Rating: 4.5

The colorful book for children 'Modern children's encyclopedia' is a guide for a child to the world of interesting questions about everything in the world. In two sections, the maximum of useful information about the living planet, man and the world around him is collected. The child will be interested to learn about dinosaurs, village life, plants and animals, about the structure of the body, the encyclopedia contains bright photographs and illustrations, poems, notes.

The encyclopedia has thick unfinished pages in hardcover, the book is suitable for reading with children from 5 years old.

Children's encyclopedia. 5000 important events and interesting facts (Vladis Publishing House, 2015)

Rating: 4.4

The encyclopedia '5000 Important Events and Interesting Facts' is intended for schoolchildren. It contains interesting and useful information on various topics: science and technology, the structure of the Universe, planets, the population of the Earth, important events and secrets of history. From the book, the child learns about the discoveries of scientists, unique experiments, will understand the essence of many phenomena and things.

The pages contain a lot of photos and illustrations, a convenient layout of the material, the information is presented succinctly and understandably for children from 10 years old The book is large, ideal for desktop reading and use as a reference.

Encyclopedia for children. Record holders of the animal world (Prof Press Publishing House)

Rating: 4.3

The next encyclopedia in the ranking is devoted to the world of animals, or rather to its outstanding representatives: the smallest, strongest, fastest, largest, tall, poisonous, dangerous insects, animals and birds from all over the world. The book will be of interest to children from preschool age, it will be useful for primary and secondary school students in preparation for thematic lessons. From the encyclopedia, the child learns interesting facts about the life of representatives of the fauna, gets acquainted with their habitat.

The information is presented in understandable language on 64 pages with colorful illustrations that are interesting to view for children and adults.

Encyclopedia for children. Volume 6. Religions of the World (Publishing House Avanta +)

Rating: 4.2

To acquaint a child with religious societies around the world, a thematic encyclopedia in two parts from a series of educational books, volume №6, is suitable. From it you can learn about the origin of religious movements, their traditions, including different years to the present day. The first part covers the religions of Iran, India, China and Japan, the second – Christianity and Islam, the history of movements in the XIX-XX centuries.

What is noteworthy, the book does not emphasize or extol any one religious trend, they are all covered equally fully, with respect, there is no propaganda in the material. The encyclopedia is designed to familiarize children of middle and senior school age, it is suitable for use by teachers in preparation for school and extracurricular activities, and is also in demand among those who are interested in world religions and folk cultures.

A great journey through the human body (Labyrinth Publishing House, 2019)

Rating: 4.2

The experts recognized the creation of John Farndon as the best thematic encyclopedia dedicated to anatomy, 'The Great Journey through the Human Body'. The book is intended for children from 8 years old, suitable for familiarization and as a source of information for biology and anatomy lessons at school.

In the encyclopedia, in an accessible language, accompanied by vivid realistic pictures, information is presented about all human organs, about all existing life support systems – circulatory, nervous, autonomic, bone, the author talks about the structure of tissues and cells, vital activity and the meaning of microorganisms inside the body, reveals the essence of muscle work and growth. From the encyclopedia, the child learns what hormones are, why the body needs water, how diseases progress. Information about taste buds, nutritional system and digestion is presented in an interesting way, the secret of the similarity of children to their parents is revealed. The Great Journey through the Human Body will answer literally all questions that may arise about the processes in the body.

Great Children's Encyclopedia (Makhaon Publishing House, 2016)

Rating: 4.1

In the Great Children's Encyclopedia, the child will find answers to the most unexpected questions: why ships do not sink, who are and where did the dinosaurs go, how the stars are arranged, why earthquakes and floods occur, how humans work, what sciences exist, how progress develops, and many others. The laconic text is accompanied by bright pictures that are interesting to consider for children from an early age – judging by the reviews, children from 4 years old show interest in the book, although it is intended for primary school students.

The encyclopedia contains 8 voluminous sections about the Earth and the Universe, about the natural sciences and man in them, about transport and construction, about inventions and inventors, an excursion into history, about the peoples of the planet and countries, about animals, insects and mushrooms.

The Seasons (Machaon Publishing House)

Rating: 4.0

The next in the ranking encyclopedia 'Seasons' is more like a children's book – it contains many poems and pictures that tell about seasonal changes in the weather, explain phenomena such as rain, snow, wind, hail, tell about the change of foliage and color of trees. The child learns what clothes to wear in what weather, what is the difference between spring in the village and in the city. The authors propose to look at the change of seasons on the example of one yard – visual changes are much better imprinted in the minds of children.

However, the region of residence of the reader should be considered. So, the options for the seasonality of the growth of vegetables and wardrobe proposed by the authors may not coincide in different latitudes, for example, in central Russia and in Siberia, where the climate is significantly different.

Nature of Russia

Rating: 4.0

The book 'Nature of Russia' is a guide to the world of climatic zones and natural regions of our country. The wealth of flora and fauna, the peculiarities of individual regions with their flora and fauna – there is no place on the map of our homeland that would not be presented in a thematic encyclopedia.

The book contains a lot of textual information with a laconic presentation. There are a lot of photos and pictures, maps on the pages. It will be interesting for both preschool children and their parents to get to know them. An encyclopedia can be read and viewed as a book of fiction. By the way, Crimea is present on the map in the latest edition of the edition, a description of the nature of its corners is given.

Ancient civilizations. Egypt, Greece, Rome (Vladis Publishing House)

Rating: 4.0

The ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome, from where, according to scientists, the spread of life and culture across the entire globe came, are presented in detail in the encyclopedia of the same name. This book will show how these civilizations and writing developed, who ruled in them, how history developed, what important events took place that left an imprint on world culture.

In addition to well-known civilizations and nationalities that settled near Egypt, Rome and Greece, the book contains the Book of the Dead, which contains the sacred traditions of the peoples.

Interactive Biology Encyclopedia with Stickers, Games and Crafts (CLEVER Publishing)

Rating: 3.9

At the end of the rating, we present a fun interactive encyclopedia with stickers and templates, blanks for crafts. It is designed for children 7-11 years old.

The pages of the book contain all the basic information about the environment and biology within the school subject. Acquaintance with flora and fauna from all over the planet, answers to the most popular questions, tips on making feeders, a description of gardening processes at home – all this is in the interactive encyclopedia, it is suitable for home study and preparation for biology lessons.

The information is supplemented with realistic illustrations, and stickers add interest to the child for a deeper study of the material. Handicraft schemes, recipes, a variety of games will help organize leisure in the family circle.

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Attention! This rating is subjective and does not constitute an advertisement and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before buying, you need to consult with a specialist.