• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 6

If our world is full of questions, then this book has the answers. From life under the sea to the art of the Renaissance, from your five senses and human rights to life in Ancient Egypt, readers can expect to be fascinated at each turn of the page. With subjects so inviting and accessible, kids can open at any page that catches their attention and become virtuosos in all manner of things. Richly illustrated in a wide variety of exceptional graphic styles and with hundreds of beautiful photographs, this comprehensive text delivers stimulating and educational information as never before. Four main sections are separated into detailed chapters, which are then further divided into more than 85 entertaining and thought-provoking subjects. From ancient mythology to modern technology and everything in between, this rich, lively, and clearly organized world-in-a-book is aimed at the kids of today. It will entertain them with answers to questions they might not even have known they had, and help them decipher the world around them, stay abreast of current events, and form an opinion on important issues.

The Editors of Maple Tree Press' profile page

Eve Drobot's varied career has included stints as a senior story editor for Canada AM, a host for Classical 96 Radio's Books & Authors, and a literary columnist for The Globe and Mail. Her writing has appeared in Saturday Night, Newsweek, Toronto Life, and Macleans. Born in Poland, she now lives in Toronto.

Eve Drobot's profile page

• Short-listed, CYBILS, Middle Grade YA Category
• Commended, Resource Links, Best of the Year
• Commended, Amazon.ca, Editor's Choice, Top 25 Books for Tweens and Teens
• Commended, THE Magazine, Top 5 Non-fiction

Here’s the answer to Wikipedia you can hold in your hands. It’s perfect for browsing with colorful illustrations and information about a multitude of subjects…It’s a fun and entertaining mini-encyclopedia about everything that everyone will enjoy. A perfect gift for birthdays and special occasions.

Quebec Home & School News

For those kids whose heads are bursting with questions, open this book at any page that catches your attention or read your way through from start to finish. Along the way, expect to be fascinated and prepare to grow your smarts!

St. Albert’s Gazette

A functional and well-illustrated encyclopedia for kids, Smart-opedia will become an essential go-to book, whether its’ for homework assignments or just plain wonderin’ about the world…It captivates as well as educates.

Calgary Herald

You couldn’t do any better than this…for any intellectually curious juvenile…Open[s] doors to hundreds of family conversations or classroom activities. Beautiful to look at, intriguing to browse…

Suite101.com

Looking for a book that kids won’t put down? Smart-opedia is filled with facts about 85 different topics that will entice readers…to spend hours learning about astronomy, animals, plants, the human body, history, and the arts. …Although the book is intended to encourage browsing and inspire curiosity, students may also find homework help within these pages.

Parent Wise (Austin, TX)

Thoroughly engaging, Smart-opedia has a definite place in school and public libraries as well as in personal collections. Highly Recommended.

Resource Links

Smart-opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything is the ultimate almanac for kids, answering questions about astronomy, the Earth, plants, animals, the human body, history, today’s world, the arts, science and technology. Multiple visual formats tailored to more than 85 topics make the wealth of content accessible and meaningful for kids.

Playthings

Teachers and parents will love having a single book that covers such a wide variety of information. Both children and adults will enjoy the fun format…Put this book in the hands of an 8-year-old or up who enjoys facts, and you’ll have one smart kid when he or she is done reading.

TD Monthly

The book does cover just about everything and will work equally well as a research text or as a pleasure read. Certainly for the child who is so inclined, the book will provide hours of interesting reading.

The Classroom Bookshelf

Smart-opedia is hard to put down. In one fell swoop, you can learn about super-slow animals (snails), amazing jumping animals (the African lynx), and the swiftest runners (ostriches?! and cheetahs)…Highly recommended, not only for the fascinating reading/learning factor, but as a true goldmine of conversation starters.

YABooksCentral.com

Entertainingly and clearly presented, this is a one-volume reference book that eight-to-twelve-year olds (and probably their younger and older siblings, and parents too) will be reaching for even when no homework assignment is in sight.

Farmschool.wordpress.com

It's everything this century's inquiring mind requires: a huge amount of information about an enormous range of subjects.

The Globe and Mail

Parents, teachers, and homeschoolers are always searching for books that will give their children a learning edge. Smart-opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything helps children ages 8 to 12 get a basic understanding of the common subjects covered in the public school curriculum and is a wonderful educational guideline for homeschooling parents […] Each page is filled with illustrations and tidbit facts that will attract a young reader’s interest and open up a new world where facts are exciting.

Suite101.com

This book reveals answers to questions covering everything from mythology to modern technology, in an illustrated format that supports more than 85 subjects.

TD Monthly

Unlike most Encyclopedias, this isn’t dull reading, nor page after page of text. The text is easy to read and broken up into small sections and the diagrams make it very interesting.

Smsbookreviews.blogspot.com

Smart-opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything is bound to interest kids age 8 through 12. It is filled with information about animals, astronomy, plants, science, the human body, earth, the arts, et cetera! Encouraging a youngster to read a book like this is so much better than permitting them to gaze mindlessly at the television to pass the time

Bookviews.com

Lively, cartoon-like illustrations make this a fun book for kids just to peruse, as well as to look things up in. An entertaining way for them to learn painlessly.

Burnaby Now

You’ll learn some really awesome things in Smart-opedia…Every kids loves to know something that nobody else knows. To that end, Smart-opedia is going to make a lot of kids smile and feel darn smart…Even kids who ‘hate to read’ will find something fun — and compelling — in this book.

Cape Cod Times

Smart-opedia: The Amazing Book About Everything has bright graphics and employs a simple storytelling tone to cover what much fatter books deliver.

The Vancouver Sun

It promises 'something new at each turn of the page' and it delivers on that promise. This is a great book for kids to pore over, skipping from section to section, according to personal interest...A great addition to school or personal collections!

Brandon Sun

It is truly a captivating book — the illustrations are bright and whimsical and the information is presented in comic book-type text or chunks that are easily digestible…I loved this book…It’s Amazing!! It’s Great!! It’s Colossal!!!!

5MinutesForMom.com

It’s a great book to dip in and out of — keep it in the car or on your bedside table.

KNOW Magazine

What’s not to love? Every page is filled with details, facts, illustrations and photos that will occupy little minds for hours…not to mention the parent that happens to pick up this book. A must for your [home library].

JellyMom.com

This chunky volume is billed as the amazing book about everything and it certainly lives up to its name…this smart and sassy book touches on just about everything a curious middle-schooler could possibly want…With irreverent and colorful drawings, funny cartoon characters and simple answers to complicated questions, Smart-opedia is a great way to help kids understand the world around them without overwhelming them with too much information.

Chronicle Herald

This richly illustrated and clearly organized reference book makes encyclopedic information inviting, fun, and accessible...Special features throughout appeal to kids' curiosity and give context to a plethora of facts.

Calgary’s Child

Every page is filled with interesting information young readers will devour!

KidsBookshelf.com

Flip open to any page, and you’re likely to be wowed with facts and figures popping out at you from all over each double page spread…Creative graphics, illustrations, and standout layouts grab your attention, and the facts hold it.

Modern Babies & Children

Smart-opedia: The Amazing Book about Everything

For kids who like almanacs, the Guiness Book of World Records and non-fiction books in general, here is a great new book to add to their library. Smart-opedia really is a book about everything. It is organized into four broad categories — Amazing World!, Live it Up!, Then and Now, and Genius at Work! — with sub-categories on Astronomy, Earth, Plants, Animals, Human Body, History, Today’s World, The Arts, and Science and Technology. Within each of these areas, the information is broken up in ways that are fun, interesting and informative. Of course there are lots of pictures, both photographs and illustrations. As with the text, a number of different illustrators are drawing the pictures so, while the book has a consistent overall style, individual pieces have their own unique look.

There is lots to chew on for the curious child — facts, statistics, history, myth and legend, maps, timelines. The book does cover just about everything and will work equally well as a research text or as a pleasure read. Certainly for the child who is so inclined, the book will provide hours of interesting reading. Maple Tree Press has put a lot of thought and work into the Smart-opedia; I would recommend it for both school and public libraries.