It is funny that when I was a kid, I loved going through National Geographic magazine, which is a magazine for grownups, and now that I am a grownup, I like going through National Geographic Kids website, magazines and books, which are all primarily for young readers. I haven’t looked at the National Geographic magazine since I discovered their publications for kids, and there are many good reasons for this.

Take for instance their The Ultimate Adventure Atlas of Earth. It’s an atlas like no other I have seen, and frankly, I haven’t gone through an atlas properly ever. Who would want to open up a boring atlas with maps and stats, unless one has to do so for an assignment or homework? Now, since I bought this Nat Geo’s atlas, it remains at my bedside table, where I pick it up every now and then, and discover the extreme and adventurous parts of the world in the most reader-friendly way.

It is more of a reference book than a traditional atlas as the maps are not the main features on the pages. Pictures and information of the wild and wonderful places and things to do in them are what bring the boring maps alive to the readers and help to visualise the flat lines on the map in a more vivid manner.

The atlas highlights adventurous places, extreme plants, animals and weather, and exciting things to do at different places. After starting off with tips on how to use this atlas and maps, the book is divided into sections based on continents, oceans and space, with tonnes of information — but all extreme and exciting — plus lots of games, activities, the top five coolest places in each continent, adventure hotspots, trivia and what not.

This specialty atlas for kids from the world’s leader in exploration, cartography and conservation is enough to get any kid or adult, like myself, interested in the world, geography and give them endless hours of fun, loaded with amazing information.

Published in Dawn, Young World August 5th, 2017