Hamlyn Junior Encyclopedia [antikvár]

Introduction When writing books or television script outlines, I sit in a room surrounded by books, and there's another like it next door. Books on shelves, tables and piled on the floor; books of all shapes and sizes, mainly packed with detailed information concerning plants, animals, places and people. A wealth of knowledge ready to hand and yet hardly a session passes when I don't get stuck for a bit of basic information: How long is the River Nile? What date did Captain Cook land in Australia? How heavy was a Brachiosaurus? Then I rush upstairs to find one of my children's reference books, the most dog-eared of which bear the Hamlyn logo. With four bedrooms all overflowing with books, and five children all overflowing with different interests to choose from, it is often no easy task. However, once the book is located it is a simple matter to find the facts I want. If you are saying, 'Why doesn't he buy some of his own?', I do, and they always borrow them. Books of reference! even the thought sounds very dry and dusty. The word Encyclopedia has a much grander ring, but the image is all too often of something to be looked at on the shelves rather than taken down to be opened and read. Of course, once you have taken the plunge, they are not like that at all, they are the most fascinating things to read, again and again. This Encyclopedia is going to help a lot of youngsters to take that plunge, they will not only be able to look in, but actually will own their own encyclopedia. It's bursting with fantastic information in full colour, images to excite, compelling them to read the clear, always concise text. Most important of all, it is to the point, for it is about the complex world we all live in. It is just as important to know about banks and banking, exports and imports, how a large store or hospital works, as to understand the Solar System and fossil fuels. It really is a super book. There is only one problem I can see, and that is that it will finally blow away the dusty image of the reference library. Librarians, get ready for the invasion of those sacrosanct shelves. DAVID BELLAMY Bedburn, 1984