The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid

Dylan Thuras Rosemary Mosco Joy Ang (Illustrator) Workman Publishing Company (SEPTEMBER) Hardcover $19.95 (112pp), 978-1-5235-0354-4

Aimed at young explorers everywhere, The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid avoids the usual facts, figures, and tourist sites in favor of fascinating and offbeat wonders, both natural and manmade.

One hundred sites are included, drawn from forty-seven countries and every continent on the planet. In addition to highlighting unusual facts about familiar nations like England and Mexico, the book also introduces less familiar countries like Azerbaijan and Namibia.

Each two-page spread begins by locating its site on the globe and offering a set of interesting facts about the destination country. Excellent descriptions of special attractions run a few hundred words each. Readers are treated as serious travelers and fellow adventurers; introductory pages include a list of things to take along, including sunscreen and a solar charger, while end notes include a list of questions to ask while exploring.

The thesis of the book—that wherever you are, there is something awesome to see—shines through on every page and is emphasized by found attractions in backyard locations from Tennessee to Wyoming. Instead of the Louvre, the museum of choice in Paris is the Musée Fragonard, where skeletons and mummies in lifelike poses are on display. A “Further Reading” list offers choices on topics from dinosaurs to anthropology.

The book is oversize, exceptionally well produced, and visually inviting, with edge-to-edge color on every page. Illustrations by Joy Ang are contemporary, imaginative, and informative. This is a horizon-broadening book that is, above all, fun. Readers are likely to take a new look at their hometowns and can explore remote locales, like Antarctica’s Blood Falls, online.