One of the most valuable literary skills which children can learn is how to use reference books. As a child every question which I began with ''how do you spell...?'' would be answered with ''EXACTLY as it says in the dictionary''. This was fine, but the family's Collins Little Gem Dictionary didn't encourage exploration, not least because the font was small and difficult to read. Fortunately those times have now changed and reference book for children are now much more inviting. Not every book comes with a set of instructions but it's worth studying the ''How to...'' section, not least because similar systems are used in other reference books. [[Children's Illustrated Thesaurus by DK|Full Review]]
<!-- DK -->
|-
| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|
[[image:DK_1st.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/024118875X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]]
| style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|
===[[First Science Encyclopedia by Dorling Kindersley]]===
[[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Children's Non-Fiction|Children's Non-Fiction]], [[:Category:Reference|Reference]]
I wasn't introduced to 'science' until I was eleven and went on to senior school: I wasn't alone in this, but it really was too late. Thankfully, times have changed and children at primary school are getting to grips with plants and animals, atoms and molecules and even outer space from a very young age. What's needed is a good, basic reference book which will introduce all the subjects and give a good grounding. It needs to be something which would sit proudly in the classroom library and comfortably on a child's bookshelf. ''The First Science Encyclopedia'' would do both well. [[First Science Encyclopedia by Dorling Kindersley|Full Review]]
|}
{{newreview
|author=Dorling Kindersley
|title=First Science Encyclopedia
|rating=5
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I wasn't introduced to 'science' until I was eleven and went on to senior school: I wasn't alone in this, but it really was too late. Thankfully, times have changed and children at primary school are getting to grips with plants and animals, atoms and molecules and even outer space from a very young age. What's needed is a good, basic reference book which will introduce all the subjects and give a good grounding. It needs to be something which would sit proudly in the classroom library and comfortably on a child's bookshelf. The ''First Science Encyclopedia'' would do both well.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>024118875X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Deirdre Osborne (Editor)