A Book Review: Where On Earth?

My son was given the book Where On Earth? by Dorling Kindersley (DK Publishing) as a gift from his grandmother after undergoing minor surgery. He loves maps, and so this book was entirely fitting. As a curious soul, he plunged into the extraordinary pages that are full of photo maps (more than 80 of them!) that include both amazing photography and brilliant illustrations.

A Perfect Book for Explorers!

Each fact-filled page features a map with a unique focus. The book is broken up into six categories: Land, Sea and Air; Living World; People and Planet; Engineering and Technology; History; and Culture.

You’ll find a map highlighting major earthquakes around the world over the last 100 years, including fact-bullets about the five strongest and the five deadliest ever recorded. A map about mountains showcases the highest mountains and volcanoes and compares the highest (Mt. Everest) versus the tallest (Mauna Kea).

Move on to the Living World section and find a map that explores the world’s wild predators, deadly creatures, bird migration, river monsters, and extinct animals. The People and Planet section features the Where People Live map, showcasing our world’s populations and identifying the biggest cities and most sparsely populated countries. There’s a map about nomads, pandemics like the Spanish Flu, poverty, food production, and even food consumption.

Where On Earth Covers All Subjects:

The Engineering and Technology section features an air traffic map, shipping routes, and a map of the tallest buildings. I love how they illustrate the buildings directly on the map, showing the steel giants jutting out from the countries side-by-side so kids can get a visual feel for the locations and the sizes.

The history section is one of my favorites. Explore prehistoric cultures around the world and a map of the Ancient Wonders like the Hanging Garden of Babylon and the Terra-cotta Army. You’ll learn about medieval empires, battlegrounds, revolutions, and shipwrecks.

Finally, the Culture section identifies languages spoken around the world, Holy Places, and Statues of major importance (think Statue of Liberty and the Angel of the North). You’ll learn about festivals all over the world, stadiums and arenas, roller coasters, and the prevalence of television.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with a map-lover in the house, or even a child who loves to learn quick facts. The reading isn’t lengthy, so it’s easy to digest, but the maps and illustrations tell such great stories and impart buckets of information that you’d never really think to address all in one place.