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The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia,

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia

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“Encyclopedia” is a misnomer for this book since it is arranged in chronological rather than topical order. Beginning with pre-history, it presents a new topic for every two-page spread. Student could conceivably read it through cover-to-cover since it often relates information to previous sections. However, I suspect that it will more likely be used as a reference volume as you try to correlate events and find information about particular people or events.

The Kingfisher History Encyclopedia is likely best for grades 4 through 6, but you might also use it up through about eighth grade.

This book aims for a multicultural presentation, covering Asia, Africa, India, the early Americas, and other civilizations much more than we find in typical textbooks. Timelines running across the top of the pages help students place people and events in perspective. Numerous sidebars and illustrations with their captions are also instructive. Full-color illustrations take up half of each page on average. Consequently, coverage is very selective and cursory because of the limited amount of textual material. For example, the Vietnam War is covered in a two brief paragraphs. Nevertheless, this is a good resource for obtaining a “snapshot” understanding of people, places, and events.

The book is divided into ten sections, each of which opens with a “World at a Glance” overview and ends with general presentations on “The Arts,” “Architecture,” and “Science and Technology.” A “Ready Reference” section at the back lists rulers, dynasties, popes, presidents, and other chronological lists of those in power through history. The pre-history section presents hypothetical information as fact, so you might want to caution children about this. Also, Christianity is treated as just one of many religions.

This 2004 edition concludes with a one-page summary of the war on terror.