He may be too old for these, possibly, but we like having a selection of the DK Eyewitness books on the shelves; they're nice for an initial survey of a topic, and the pictures are terrific--but the books aren't great for kids craving real depth in a subject.

The Kingfisher Encyclopedias (of Geography, History, Science, etc.) are also nice to have around.

You can't go wrong with a really good atlas or two, I'd say.

David Macaulay books are always good (The Way Things Work, The Way We Work, Cathedral, City, Pyramid, Mill, etc. etc.). In a similar vein is Bill Slavin's "Transformations: How Ordinary Things are Made."

There are lots of nice art history series for kids: Colleen Carroll's "How Artists See" (animals, heroes, families, etc.--there are twelve of them, I think); the old Metropolitan Museum series of "What Makes a ____ a _____" (Degas, Renoir, etc.--ten all told, I believe); the "Art Fraud Scandal" and "Art Auction Detective" books (there's one more, whose name slips my mind right this minute); Two Can Press has a history through art series that is only three books so far: Knights and Castles, Transportation, and Trails West.

Maybe a couple of fun magazine subscriptions, too? My kids like the science mags "Yes" and "Know", and I am tempted by "Dig" and "Kayak," too.

Anyway, just a couple of ideas for now...

peace
minnie

PS Another thing we've found really invaluable is a series of field guides for our region: trees, rocks, plants, insects, seashore life, pond life, birds, etc. These are heavily used--they were a good investment!

Last edited by minniemarx; 09/17/09 10:04 PM. Reason: added ps