National Geographic Almanac 2019 Published by National Geographic on October 23, 2018
Pages: 400
Source: the publisher
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A one-of-a-kind annual featuring surprising facts, stunning color photos, arresting infographics, and illuminating maps that present the world in a whole new way.

An almanac like you’ve never seen before, this arresting volume features key information on science, nature, history, and geography, spiked with cutting-edge ideas and spectacular visuals. Discover features that only National Geographic can deliver, including exquisite photography, explanatory infographics, illustrated timelines, and maps created by expert cartographers. Chapters include Exploration & Adventure, This Planet & Beyond, Life on Earth, and The Science of Us; featured topics range from the polar jet stream and how chameleons change colors to the world’s biggest cities and the science of addiction. It includes top travel trends, new explorations, and recent discoveries, as well as fascinating trivia. Enlightening for young and old, exquisitely designed, each page of this special almanac reveals something new about today’s world.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review:

When National Geographic’s Almanac 2019 arrived in the mail, everyone in my house got up from whatever activity he/she was doing and came over to gawk at it. This is the type of book that appeals to everyone in my household-regardless of age, regardless of specific interests. As one of my teenage daughters said, “This book has something in it for everyone!”

There are a ton of specific topics incorporating science and history in Almanac 2019. There is geography and conservation, nature and space exploration. There are maps and timelines and all sorts of cool page spreads. My girls love science, so they are spending a lot of time on the animal and nature conservation sections. My favorite pages show the cultures of different peoples and the surface of the earth. My husband loves the entire book. Right now, my 13-year-old son is obsessed with rock climber Alex Honnold, so he was thrilled to see that there is a two-page spread detailing Honnold’s career and notable climbs.

Literally, there is something in here for everyone.

In our homeschooling, we use timelines quite a bit-studying them and making them. It really helps my teens learn and remember dates and important events and people, and visualizing the order of these events in timeline form seems to help in committing these facts to memory. So it really makes me happy to see that National Geographic has chosen to present some of their neatest information in timeline form. (Earlier this year, my son actually worked on astronomer and scientist timelines, so finding the one I’ve included in the photo is extra cool for us.)

This is exactly the type of book that we usually take out of our library for loan over and over. Until I took the time to look over this one for review and check on the pricing, I had no idea that this was as affordable as it is. I love that it is a sturdy, chunky paperback that has the visual appeal of a nice hardback tabletop book. If I sat this one out in my living room, it would be a conversation piece with the majority of visitors that regularly come to my house. (OR I would be constantly hunting it down because my kids would have it up in their rooms!)

After seeing the pages about birds and other animals, I think my family wants to see what other animal books National Geographic has. I love this page in particular, with the different species of backyard birds. My girls are interested in identifying birds with their grandmother, so until I get a more animal-related book maybe this one would be helpful.

This is not a book that we will be looking at once and shelving. I feel like this one will spend some time moving around our house and even in our car-my kids spend a ton of time looking at and reading books while I’m driving. It is fun to note that in the time that I was typing up this blog post, my son came downstairs to take a turn with this book for awhile. He wants to study over the Alex Honnold parts. Ha! Very good, National Geographic!

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