This oversize volume combines elements of a visual extravaganza with fascinating trivia in pages as spacious and luxurious as a classic road atlas. It's an invitation to travel around the world one page at a time.
The excursions readers will take are no ordinary armchair atlas trips. While the husband-and-wife authors present the basic facts of each country--name, capital, language, population, flag--it's the details about the culture, people and natural resources that will make readers want to pour over each page, discovering something new with every viewing. Maps is a treat, with its richness of details catering to young readers in this electronic age who thrive on all kinds of visual stimuli. This book will also appeal to other members of the family. All will scour for details and trivia as obscure, fun and varied as where one might sandboard or see a yak. --Susannah Richards, associate professor, Eastern Connecticut State University