The National Geographic Bee Ultimate Fact Book

Gr 5 Up—Consider this world tour of trivia a ready-reference tour de force. Wojtanik, 2004 Winner of the National Geography Bee, provides one-stop shopping for those assembling geographic facts for reports, term papers, and projects. Plus, herein lies the luxury of satisfying curiosity about, say, the tallest waterfall (Angel Falls, Venezuela) or figuring out which countries are now part of Eastern Europe versus Asia without Googling. In what is essentially a published version of Wojtanik's self-described "monstrous packet" of study notes, information about the world's 195 independent countries is subdivided using three main headings-"Physical," "Political," and "Environmental/Economic." All the fast facts are here, beginning with official country name, continent, area, population, population density, and capital. A black-and-white map of each country notes major cities, adjacent countries, and coordinates to provide visual context for researchers. "World and Continent Maps" opens the book and a page of "Geographic Extremes" supplies a neat conclusion. In addition to physical features and major exports and imports, the dates of independence, administrative divisions (e.g., states), current leader, and type of currency will keep readers informed on the basics of current world politics. Librarians won't regret this purchase.—Christina Connolly, Clark University, Worcester, MA