Ultimate Visual Dictionary - Hardcover

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YA-A beautiful dictionary that uses more than 6,000 full-color photographs, illustrations, and cross sections to explore most aspects of the natural world: the universe, prehistoric Earth, architecture, and much more. Arranged by subject but indexed in great detail, this volume will be especially helpful in schools supporting large ESL populations.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

While librarians should always be wary of titles bearing hyperboles, this is the ultimate visual dictionary produced by its publisher, which by extension makes it one of the best on the market. Many of Dorling Kindersley's pictorial reference works are cataloged for children's collections, but this tour de force deserves a place in all departments. With 14 sections, 270 major entries, and 30,000 terms, it is a vital addition to the field of visual dictionaries. Most important, every page glows in stunning color-a particularly useful feature in the sections on the human body and the universe. The illustrations are a combination of photographs and drawings. A 45-page, six-column index assures that any term in the book will quickly be found. Occasionally, as in the section on architecture, the feature illustrated is too small to be seen in detail or a pointer line is lost when crossing a dark area, but these problems are rare. There are also a few factual errors, which one hopes will be corrected in future editions. Of its competitors, The Facts on File Visual Dictionary (LJ 12/86) and What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World (LJ 5/15/94) are both in black and white, and the Macmillan Visual Dictionary (available in a multilingual edition, LJ 3/1/93) consists mostly of drawings. This Ultimate Visual Dictionary is not the only pictorial dictionary to own, but it is by far the most visually impressive, and it comes at a good price. Enthusiastically recommended for all libraries.
James Moffet, Baldwin P.L., Birmingham, Mich.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.