Amazon.com (ISBN 0060285990, Hardcover)

How's this for a novel concept: geography is not just about naming a country's major exports, memorizing the names of the continents, or finding the Sahara Desert on a map. According to Kenneth C. Davis, author of the bestselling Don't Know Much About History, as well as the fun new Don't Know Much About series for kids, geography is about "knowing where we are, how we got there, and where we might be going." In Don't Know Much About Planet Earth, readers become explorers, discovering remarkable, far-off places, meeting fascinating people, and finding answers to questions they might not have known they even had. Following several chapters about Earth, deserts, earthquakes, maps, tropical rainforests, etc., come chapters on each of the seven continents. Packed chock-full of fascinating facts, every page is sure to make readers begin to think more deeply about the world around them. A lively question-and-answer format explains why maps of the world will always, always be wrong. Find out if there is enough food to feed the world, why Earth looks mostly blue from outer space, and why Australia is home to such unusual animals. Illustrator Tom Bloom's cartoon-style drawings are an entertaining accompaniment to Davis' upbeat, up-to-date text.

Don't know much about anything? You will soon. Other titles in this amusing and enlightening series for kids include Don't Know Much About the 50 States, Don't Know Much About Space, and Don't Know Much About the Solar System. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter