Finding the Best Atlas of the World

Every home needs a good world atlas. While MapQuest, Yahoo Maps and Google Maps may be beaten traditional road maps for our directional needs, there will always be a place for a nice hardcover, full-color atlas. You can read at a glance profiles of different countries or cities, have travel tips, reference information, to teach kids about other places and cultures or simply explore the world right from your couch. But which one is king of the world? This is a difficult question to answer, but here are some classic selections, as well as some new options to bring to light.

One of the most frequently used atlases is Goode World Atlas, edited by Edward B. Espenshade, Jr. This pocket-sized book contains a series of high-quality maps from a cache of professional geographers. Another great selection is the National Geographic Road Atlas of the United States, Canada and Mexico, which has, hands-down the best street maps of North America. The 10 th time map of the world boasts 125 color maps and a quarter of a million place names.

The DK World Atlas is full of fun facts, while also providing geographic information on every country in the world. We also want to add the DK Atlas of World History, which includes maps, calendars, photographs and historical notes, and the DK World Reference Atlas, which has from 1 to 6 pages of each country, discussing politics, climate, world affairs, economics, crime, health, media, education and communication.

Sometimes you can find a world map that shows the current state of our planet. The State of the World Atlas does just that, displaying the latest stats, profiles and realities of world politics, economy, food supplies, military power, energy resources, pollution levels and biodiversity. In a nutshell, what a hardcopy atlas of the world offers, which online mapping lacks, is that historical, worldview of mapmakers and cartographers who take great time and effort to color code our world and combine the data with maps so sensitive, so paint the bigger picture.

If you are looking for an atlas of American history to inspire the children, then consider Elspeth Leacock and Susan Buckley "Places in time: a new atlas of American history" (for 7-14 years), which teaches children about fascinating stories behind 20 Americans unfamiliar places using oral histories, old maps, contemporary drawings and stories. Do not forget to Lynn Kuntz of "Celebrate the USA: Hands-On History Activities for Children" (for 8-10 years), that will have you playing musical inventions like Ben Franklin or creating liberty wind socks from the boxes of flour 'oats, glue, yarn and paper .......