Their new encyclopedia acts as a virtual tour of the world in one exciting, visually different and enthralling book.

Gone are the days of pages and pages of stodgy prose interspersed here and there with a rather uninspiring illustration or an unintelligible map.

Instead today's youngsters can feed their minds on a hybrid of traditional information sources and electronic forms with a stunning array of photographs and other innovative visual learning aids.

This is truly an encyclopedia for the 21st century. As well as being packed with information that leaps out from every page like a slide show, it is also perfect for browsing and allows young readers easy access to the contents.

There is a composite spread for all the subjects which range from nature, the human body, science and space to the earth, people and places, history, art and culture.

And each section provides a visual delight by the very clever close juxtaposition of both pictures and clear, concise and easy-to-understand captions which together present the information in a unique and thought-provoking way.

Eye-popping photographs, specially commissioned by Dorling Kindersley, breathe new life into old subjects in a spectacular show-and-tell experience.

The classical world, for example, is brought alive by a fantastic collection of original busts of the famous names that have echoed down the centuries - Socrates, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Pythagoras.

The essentials of a balanced diet are displayed on a house of cards, dinosaurs are showcased on a collection of stamps from around the world and reptiles snake their way up a pair of ladders.

A collection of easily identifiable badges features the US presidents, a weather spread appears on a bank of television screens and an ice sculpture provides a new slant on the states of matter.

As well as some truly spectacular close-ups of blood cells, the section on the body also features some 'knitted' vital organs, a multi-coloured giant cross-section of the human brain and a drawerful of prosthetic eyes to illustrate the science of genetics.

Children can select a favourite subject from the front index, turn to the spread page and learn fascinating facts and figures from the easy-to-read bite-sized chunks.

With each chapter researched and verified by a team of specialist consultants and writers, WOW! is also an invaluable and fun reference tool for adults and children studying for Key Stage 2 exams.

So if you are looking for a museum, a search engine and a box of visual tricks all rolled into one, look no further ... this enyclopedia is the answer to your dreams!

(Dorling Kindersley, hardback, £19.99)