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My father always maintains the most current World Almanac. It sits at the end table right next to his recliner chair. I would often get his “old” one, which I would read for fun.
For those who might have never thought about owning an almanac, it’s a valuable one-stop-shop for uber-detailed current facts about the U.S., less-detailed facts about other countries, plus plenty of pop-culture information, from entertainers to key players in current events. No time or internet connection to consult Wikipedia? The Almanac also has sections summarizing U.S. history, world maps, world history and numerous other quick references. It’s smaller than an encyclopedia, and makes a fabulous inexpensive (
I volunteered to review The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013 because my oldest son, age 10*, is a statistics geek and I figured he’d love an enormous book of facts. I received my review copy on December 6th, and I was thrilled to see that the 2012 election results were included. There was considerable detail to the results, including state-by-state and county-by-county electoral and popular vote tallies for President, plus tallies for the nationwide Congressional and gubernatorial contests. It had my husband and me pondering in awe the speed with which the numbers had to be input in order to get the copies printed so quickly. Good job!
This almanac is clearly America-centric. Out of the 1,006 pages, 647 of them are dedicated to U.S. facts. Two hundred and five pages are dedicated to international history and facts, and the remaining 230 pages of facts are dedicated to sports, most of which is American. The rest of the almanac is its extensive index.
Let’s talk about my son’s use of this almanac. Lucky for him, we received this the very same day he brought home a notice about his school’s geography bee competition. Well, this almanac was PERFECT! I took him straight to page 685, World Exploration and Geography, and he curled up in a chair and started reading! Between the almanac and his two National Geographic atlases, I thought he’d be a shoo-in to win in his class. Alas, he lost (without complaint) to his best friend.
He’s also my baseball statistics geek. This almanac dedicates 25 pages to baseball statistics, right down to Major League Baseball’s individual player summaries for their 2012 seasons. My son was in heaven!
There are three sections of full color photos and illustrations that offer summaries of current events, political news, sports, science and obituary data. I was tickled to see full-color props given to the Mars Curiosity landing, the Space Shuttles’ trips to their final resting places, the announcement of the Higgs boson discovery, and Venus transit (all topics near and dear to GeekMom this past year).
The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2013 is available in both hardcover and paperback at book retailers nationwide (in the reference section), and can be ordered online at retailers such as Amazon. Kindle and Nook versions of the almanac are also available. Remember, these make great last-minute gifts for your fact-checking, statistics-loving geeks in your life. Visit The World Almanac’s website and enjoy their top banner filled with facts related to the current date, such as “This Date in History,” noteable birthdays, and sports history.
*Yes, there is a kid’s version of the World Almanac also. Justin Bieber is on the front cover of the 2013 version. But (a) the kid’s version is only 350 pages and (b) the kid’s version costs more. I’m willing to bet my 10-year-old appreciates the adult’s version just fine.
A complimentary sample of this book was provide for review purposes.
