The 10 Best Encyclopedias For Kids

For one book that answers almost anything, the Britannica All New Kids' Encyclopedia covers a huge range. Its chapters run from the birth of the universe to life today, and more than 100 experts checked the facts. Each topic also says what scientists still don't know, which keeps kids asking questions. The 2025 update brings it close to current. It's heavy, and topics run by theme rather than A to Z, so young readers need the index.

Built for early grade-schoolers, the DK Children's Encyclopedia covers more than 250 topics, from viruses and space travel to myths and the Aztecs. Each one gets a short, clear spread with photos, maps and a quick fact box, and educational consultants checked the writing against its reading age. The 2022 edition added fresh pages to bring it up to date. Kids in the upper grades can find the entries too brief for school projects.

The DK Eyewitness Encyclopedia of Everything suits curious upper-elementary kids who want photos first and words second. More than 1,500 photographs fill pages on asteroids, fossils, insects and inventions, and short quizzes check what stuck. A nice touch: real experts, such as astronauts and zoologists, answer kids' questions about their jobs. Pages are busy, with many small captions, so early readers can find them a lot to take in.

Kids who like to see how things work inside should look at the DK Knowledge Encyclopedia. Detailed computer art cuts open a castle, a coral reef and the human head, while charts and timelines carry the rest. This third edition, from 2023, folds in recent science, space and technology. History gets room too, from Viking raiders to samurai. The pages are large and the book is hefty, so it suits a desk or the floor more than a car seat.

Preschoolers and beginning readers get a reference of their own in My Encyclopedia of Very Important Things. It explains big ideas like earthquakes, butterflies and the pyramids in a sentence or two, with bright drawings and photos, and slips in games kids can play again and again. The padded cover and ribbon bookmark are made for small hands. The 2025 edition keeps it current. Kids past the early grades outgrow it fast, since entries stay short.

Animal-mad kids can browse about 2,500 creatures in the National Geographic Kids Animal Encyclopedia, each with a sharp wildlife photo. Animals are grouped by kind, with mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and bugs in their own sections, and maps show where they live. That layout quietly teaches how species are related. This second edition dates from 2021. It sticks to animals, so it won't help with history or chemistry homework.

Britannica's Encyclopedia Infographica turns facts into pictures. Charts, maps and diagrams take the place of most paragraphs, covering Earth, space, animals, the body and technology. It suits kids who skim words but will study a chart for ages, and it rewards repeat browsing because each graphic hides small details. It came out in 2023. Most pages carry only a few lines of text, so it's a poor fit for a child who wants a full explanation.

Made for preschool and the first school years, the National Geographic Little Kids First Encyclopedia tours dinosaurs, volcanoes, weather, the body and ancient Egypt with more than 700 photos and simple diagrams. An early-childhood education specialist helped shape it, and parent tips suggest ways to keep learning away from the page. It came out in 2025. The short text is aimed at reading together, so confident older readers move past it soon.

Every topic in the Smithsonian Picturepedia fits on one two-page spread crowded with pictures, so a page on mushrooms, gems or trains reads like a museum display case. Its topics span science, nature, geography, culture and sports, with timelines, ranked lists and how-to steps along the way. Kids who learn by looking can lose an afternoon in it. The catch is age: this edition dates from 2015, so some facts about technology and space have moved on.

The National Geographic Kids Science Encyclopedia runs from A to Z, so a kid looking up atoms, robots or wave power can flip straight there. Short entries mix photos, surprising facts and profiles of real scientists and explorers, and several experiments can be tried at home. It suits middle-grade readers with a science fair coming up. It dates from 2016, though, so recent discoveries in space and medicine aren't in it.