Usborne or Kingfisher History Encyclopedia?

[Julpost]

I have a 7th grader and 4th grader that are just learning outlining skills. I know SWB recommends the Kingfisher but the Usborne got better reviews on Amazon. What do you guys think, which book would you recommend??

[siloam]

I have a 7th grader and 4th grader that are just learning outlining skills. I know SWB recommends the Kingfisher but the Usborne got better reviews on Amazon. What do you guys think, which book would you recommend??

I would either do the white cover Kingfisher Illustrated World History (very different from the red cover Kingifisher World Encyclopedia) or I would use something totally different. Usborne and the new Kingfisher are not written in paragraph form, they are written in what I call factoid form. Give a fact there, then there, without a formal point A connects to point B type structure.

SOTW would work well for outlining.

Heather

[inashoe]

We have the red version. My ds 10 uses it daily for History.

[Colleen in NS]

I know SWB recommends the Kingfisher but the Usborne got better reviews on Amazon.

After that rec was published in the latest WTM, I heard on these boards that SWB no longer recommends that Kingfisher book for outlining. I tried outlining from it, and I can see why. I agree with how siloam described it. The white one is better, if you can find it used. Otherwise, you can use KF as a general spine, but use library books or encyclopedia articles related to the week's topic to practice outlining.

[Crimson Wife]

I looked at both the KHE (red cover) and the Usborne, and the KHE seemed like it had more substance to it.

[mcconnellboys]

Well, for covering the topics, Kingfisher has more depth, especially when you get to the early modern and modern periods. For outlining purposes, I wouldn't really recommend either, as their text is already so compressed that's it's already basically in outline form. So you'd be writing down practically every sentence.

For outlining, it's better to use any book that's written in a paragraph format. You can outline from a portion of a library book, from SOTW if you have it lying around, or from any book written in a narrative style.

[Susie in CA]

For the ages of your kids I would definitively go with Kingfisher. While the Usborne Enc. is fun use and look at it does not give enough information for the Logic Stage.

Susie