reference books Posts

DK Books – Excellent resource material

A pile of Dorling Kindersley books that Sarah has amassed over the years. They form the core of her library. An absolutely brilliant set of books that are created by teams of experts. Each page layout is done with care to detail, facts, and matching the text with the image. Children of today are #visuallearners and are fortunate to live in an age where books exist that are profusely illustrated with photographs. So they get doses of reality, a visual mapping, while learning becomes an enjoyable experience. These encyclopaedias are so packed with information but the pictures hold prominence in every layout. An interesting methodology to book design as the child immerses themselves in the book, absorbed by the visual richness and slowly, over a period of time, familiarises herself with the text. It is important to note that the text never dumbs down the facts. It presents them as is.

Some of these books were gifted to Sarah when she was 7+ and my goodness, how they magically transformed her reading experience. She would sit for hours looking at the pictures, flipping pages and as her #literacyskills became stronger, she began to make sense of of text too and identify more about the creatures, plants, organisms, experiments, objects, geography, weather, etc presented in the books. These books snapped her out of only being absorbed by picture books and story books. There is some merit in kids being allowed their free time to.do exactly as they please, whether it is daydreaming or flipping through books. They get lost in their own little dream worlds. These moments of daze are crucial to their growth as it is increasingly being documented that the #brain grows in such moments with the nerves connecting, synapses finding new routes. These magnificent volumes are storytelling with a difference. The child visually maps her world. She is incredible to be growing up in a world where these images are easily available. For instance, the book on Oceans has gorgeous pictures that do not make the watery world mysterious. Whereas we grew up in a world where Jacques Cousteau was still discovering the wonders of the deep. This particular volume has a preface by Fabien Cousteau, s/o Jacques Costeau.

During the pandemic, when children were confined at home and had to attend classes remotely, these DK books proved to be extremely useful resource material to have handy. Sure, the Internet exists. It is a vast ocean of readily available information but it is not the same thing as paper editions. Learning and reading in many ways is a sensual exercise. The brain needs to be tickled to come alive and absorb. Kids are surrounded by visuals and learn better if provided sensual opportunities of learning. They need to be left alone to slowly see, observe, ponder over and make connections for themselves. Large format, richly illustrated books like this permit the children to lie down on their tummies and stare into the book. Many peaceful hours can be spent like this without the parents getting frantic about excessive time spent on electronic devices or worrying about which links the children will click upon leading them to external websites etc. Books like this, developed by established brands, are good investments as they are sound on their factchecking and photographs used. It is ethicalpublishing too as every image or text used is always credited. It makes for reliable information that can be shared easily with children.

Of course these books are priced on the higher side but are an excellent addition to any home or school library. I understand the reasons for the expense and do not grudge it at all. I would rather buy one of these books than multiple volumes of different reading abilities to say explain the human body to the child. Children are incapable of grasping more than they can at any given time and slowly grow into these books. But it is incredible watching their growth as one fine day comes that magical moment when everything comes together. Now we are at a stage whereas parents we have to be very careful about identifying animals or fish as Sarah knows the exact species and names them accurately.

During remote learning I found it convenient to consult these books and explain the basic concepts of energy, periodic table, life cycle of rocks, vegetation belts, the various systems of the human body, etc. It was possible to let Sarah browse through the books and get a grasp of the concepts her teachers were introducing in their virtual classrooms. But when the teacher is reduced to a tiny box on a computer screen and valiantly attempts to draw sketches on her computer screen to explain to her class, it works but only to a limited extent. A substantial part of the heavy lifting of ensuring the child understood the concept is left upon the parents — this has been particularly evident during the pandemic. It is as if parents were assisting the schoolteachers in “minding the gap” between acquiring information and learning. Even so, once the kids begin returning to school, this kind of “blended” learning is here to stay. Schools are preferring to adopt the #hybridlearning — mix of digital and physical classes. But somewhere the balance has to be also struck between print books and online resources as well. This is were publishing brands like Dorling Kindersley India prove incredibly useful.

13 February 2021

DK Reference books for children

Quite often adults seek age appropriate non-fiction books for their children/students that will give authentic information. In the information age where plenty of free “content” is to be found online it is not very easy persuading people to buy encyclopaedias for their wards. It is a seemingly expensive proposition when free information is readily available. Yet it is worth considering that little children’s brains are like tabula rasas who could benefit from sponging correct information rather than having to unlearn knowledge later in life. It is far more challenging to forget and start afresh rather than build upon a well-established foundation. Another school of thought claims that there is absolutely no need to give children expensive reference books to browse through. It is best such books are kept in the “ready reference” section of school libraries for them to consult on a need-to basis. I do not agree.

Take for instance Explanatorium Nature which offers a look at how nature works.  It is a scrumptiously produced encyclopaedia with generous double-page spreads explaining basic processes such as how do the stingers of bees work? How do mantis and geckos hunt? How do humming birds hover? How do frogs communicate? How do snakes move? Even the metamorphosis cycle which in earlier textbooks were confined to illustrations is beautifully explained with pictures taken at different stages of a frog’s cycle from that of a tadpole to an adult.  Questions are not confined to the world visible to the naked eye but micro-organisms are also discussed. No expense seems to have been spared in using pictures taken with electron microscopes to show how does algae grow? How does mould work? These are questions about nature that are forever being asked by children and adults alike. To have it produced in such a luscious publication will make a child browse through a book and read it. In all likelihood also shun electronic engagement for it is ultimately a beautiful book to possess too.

A similarly spectacular set of book are the Super series made in collaboration with the Smithsonian — Super Bug, Super Human, Super Nature and Super Shark. Take Super Bug for instance which has the most remarkable photography to discuss a few unusual bugs found on earth. Many of these insects look very menacing when looking at these magnified images published. Every tiny detail down to the tiny hair sensors on their legs, their eyes, antennae, devouring prey and even the spiracles found in a centipede are visible. Horrifyingly accurate photography that are mesmerising to little children. Young readers are absolutely unfazed by the creepy-crawlies magnified so many times to their actual size. It is an incredible way to showcase information and for the child to learn. It has the additional advantage of teaching children to be sensitive to the “invisible” world of living organisms around them as every individual is critical to earth’s biodiversity and important this ecology is preserved.

The physical landscape is equally intriguing for little minds that are just gaining consciousness about the world around them. Children are curious by nature. They also observe sharply and have a million questions. For instance, how are waves formed? Why do earthquakes occur? Why do mountains exist? How do volcanic eruptions happen? Why do different seasons exist? Why do we have day and night? These are complex questions as they delve into physical geography but children have to start somewhere. They may as well begin looking at Geography A Children’s Encyclopedia which has pictures and illustrations showing simply and clearly different physical formations. At the same time without dumbing down information using technically accurate terminology so that the young reader begins  to form a firm foundation of knowledge about the earth.

Designed in similar spirit to educate, inform while being visually accurate is The Complete Human Body: The Definitive Visual GuideFrom the smallest component that of a cell to different body systems are described. The book is divided into five sections — the integrated body which explains evolution and cellular structures, the anatomy with the main body systems described in detail, how the body works goes into greater depth as to how each system such as the nervous system or the reproductive system works, the life cycle, and diseases and disorders. Some adults may not take kindly to such a comprehensive encyclopaedia being recommended for children for its very detailed information about the human body especially the reproductive system. On the contrary such a book is a must in every household and multiple copies of it in school libraries as it is better the next generation is accurately informed rather than misinformed and perpetuate myths about their bodies through gossip and hearsay. Also having such a book within the home or school will hopefully enable honest and frank conversations between adults and children rather than never opening up communication channels for such topics as in many homes subjects about the human body continue to be taboo.

While on the question of mechanics, two other DK publications by David Macaulay, are equally stupendous — How Machines Work and  The Way Things Work Now: From Levers to Lasers, Windmills to Wi-fi, a Visual Guide to the World of MachinesHow Machines Work won the Royal Society’s Young People’s Prize 2016 for it is an interactive book using book production ingenuity of a pop-up book combined with that of encyclopaedic information to explain the basic principle of mechanics. For instance that of levers has a set of levers embedded in the book cover that the child can play with. The concept of a lever and a fulcrum and its applications are not always easily understood by young minds; yet in this incredible spread there are tiny elements tucked into the page which a child can pick up and use to understand how a see-saw functions, how is a balancing act achieved or even how extraordinarily heavy loads are easily picked up using the lever system. Way Things Work is a very popular DK title that has been in existence for many years and has been revised and updated a few times as well, most recently in 2016. It explains simply the principles and working of many machines ranging from screws at work, sewing machines, chain hoists, aqualung, amplifier, solar cells, fingertip input, helicopters, smartphones, wi-fi, satellite navigation, speech recognition etc. It is a reference book that is entertaining, informative while being heavily illustrated it will fascinate any young reader.

Finally a book like the Home Lab: Exciting Experiments for Budding Scientists which won the Royal Society’s Young People’s Award Book Prize 2017 and the best STEM publication of the year is a well-laid out book explaining simply how to conduct basic experiments at home. For instance making rubber band planets, how to make a battery out of a lemon to learn about electrical circuits, how to make invisible ink, how to make a breathing machine, to create stunning stalactites or even how to create a DNA model. Application of encyclopaedic knowledge garnered and learning applications of it using ingredients found mostly at home is a fabulous way of introducing children to experiential learning. It is a form of learning that children are never likely to forget. Also it will teach them mental agility to apply their bookish knowledge.

Increasingly it has become critical in this noisy world that children learn skills and acquire knowledge rather than remain passive recipients of information as many become addicted to electronic engagement. It is this space of being entertaining, informative and offering a deeply immersive experience that these exquisitely produced DK books offer to children. These are definitely expensive books and may not always be easily considered by many parents who are constantly trying to balance household budgets. Yet to buy these titles for the children is undoubtedly a great investment as it is extremely rewarding watching a child get absorbed in the books and later watch in fascination how they regurgitate the knowledge gained. It is a magical transformation and well worth considering!

All these titles are essential go-to reference books meant for children.

All the books mentioned have been published by Dorling Kindersley or DK and are available in bookstores and online retail stores.

15 June 2018 

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