Reference & Learning Aids

A lot of education is filling in gaps. Even more is simple fact-memorization, the primary building block leading to the ability to regurgitate ideas, analyze them, and form original ones. Either way, there often isn't a better solution than stuffing names, dates, and figures in kids' heads until they can recall them at will. They hate this, generally, but it's a necessary evil.

In no way as unpleasant, but just as educational, is something most kids love to do: getting comfy with a big compendium of knowledge and turning each page, learning little tidbits about history, the world around them, how their body works, or who's been in outer space until they've had enough and go outside to hunt trolls or dig up buried treasure.

The best word to describe such books is one that every college student learns to dread: reference. If you don't get an F on your paper because you wrote it two hours before class, you definitely will because you forgot to cite your references. It's important to remember, however, that the enemy isn't reference; the enemy (for lack of a better term) is a system that places more value on following arbitrary guidelines than presenting and commenting on thoughts and information.

We're here to put the RAD back in reference. And memorization—there's nothing that says learning the times tables has to be boring. It often is, but usually only because we look at it as a chore, and not a privilege or exciting activity. This attitude often starts with parents: we didn't like math in school, so we kind of groan along with our kids whenever the ol' numbers chart comes out. If we get excited instead, our children are likely to do the same.

Below you'll find a long list of books crammed with facts. Some of them aren't important facts (usually the most fun), some of them are essential; we're not sure where the distinction should or does lie all the time, so we'll leave you to sort that out for yourselves. We would simply encourage, whether you're teaching the tens chart in math, or adding nuance to a study of the Old West by reading a short bio of female outlaw Belle Prater, that you approach "just the facts" with as much joy and anticipation as you'd like to see your children exhibit.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he is a husband and father, teaches adult Sunday school in his Presbyterian congregation, and likes weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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10 Days to Addition Mastery
from Learning Wrap-Ups
for 1st-3rd grade
in Addition (Location: MATR-AR1AD)
$5.99
10 Days to Multiplication Mastery
by Marion Stewart
from Learning Wrap-Ups
for 2nd-4th grade
in Multiplication (Location: MATR-AR3MU)
10 Days to Multiplication Mastery - Teacher Edition
by Marion W. Stuart
from Learning Wrap-Ups
for 2nd-4th grade
in Multiplication (Location: MATR-AR3MU)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
10 Days to Multiplication Mastery - Workbook
by Marion W. Stuart
from Learning Wrap-Ups
for 2nd-4th grade
in Multiplication (Location: MATR-AR3MU)
10 Days to Subtraction Mastery
from Learning Wrap-Ups
for 1st-3rd grade
in Subtraction (Location: MATR-AR2SU)
3-D Engineering
from Nomad Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Architecture and Sculpture (Location: ELE-ARC)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
501 English Verbs
by Thomas R. Beyer, Jr., Ph.D.
2nd edition from Barron's
for 9th-Adult
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Adventures in Ancient Greece
by Linda Bailey
from Kids Can Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Africa Is Not A Country
by Margy Burns Knight
unknown from Millbrook Press
for 1st-3rd grade
in Africa (Location: HISMC-AFR)
America First updated
by Lawton B. Evans, Updated & Revised by Rachel Lebowitz
from Charlotte Mason Plenary LLC
for 4th-6th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
America from the Beginning - Student Manual
by Joshua Franklin, Debbie Lawrence
from Answers in Genesis
for 3rd-8th grade
in U.S. History Curriculum (Location: HISCUR-US)
$29.00 (1 in stock)
America's Christian History
by Gary DeMar
2nd edition from American Vision Press
for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
America's Providential History
by Mark Beliles & Stephen McDowell
from Providence Foundation
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$8.00 (6 in stock)
American Covenant
by Marshall Foster
from Mayflower Institute
for 9th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
American History in Black & White
by David Barton
1st edition from WallBuilder Press
for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
American History in Verse
by Burton Stevenson
from Bob Jones University Press
Poetry for 3rd-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$11.00
Ancient Greek War and Weapons
by Haydn Middleton
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Animals in Winter
by Henrietta Bancroft
Revised from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Zoology (Location: SCI-ZOOL)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Ant Cities
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Arthur Dorros
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-4th grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$5.99
Arabs in the Golden Age
by Mokhtar Moktefi & Veronique Ageorges
from Millbrook Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$5.00 (2 in stock)
Archaeologists Dig For Clues
Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science Stage 2
by Kate Duke
from HarperCollins
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Archaeology (Location: HISRF-ARCH)
$5.99 $4.00 (2 in stock)
Art of Fiction
by John Gardner
from Vintage Classics
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$14.95 $9.00 (1 in stock)
Astronomy
by Cheryl Evans, Stuart Atkinson
from Usborne
for 6th-12th grade
in Astronomy (Space) (Location: SCI-AST)
$1.80 (1 in stock)
Atlas of American History
by Rand McNally
from Rand McNally
World History Reference/Atlas for 5th-8th grade
in Historical & Cultural Atlases (Location: HISRF-ATLAS)
$12.00
Atlas of the North American Indian
by Carl Waldman
1st edition from Facts On File
for 9th-Adult
in Native Americans (Location: HISA-19NAT)
$9.50 (1 in stock)
Aztecs
Journey Into Civilization
by Robert Nicholson and Claire Watts
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-7th grade
in Ancient America (Location: HISW-ANAM)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Basic History of the United States - Complete Set with Teacher's Guide
by Clarence B. Carson
from American Textbook Committee
American History Reference for 9th-12th grade
in Basic History of the United States (Location: HISCUR-US)
$104.55
Beginning Outlining
by Anne Sattler
from Remedia Publications
for 3rd-4th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Scholastic Inc.
for 5th-9th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Behind the Blue and Gray
by Delia Ray
from Puffin Books
for 4th-6th grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
Behind the Mask
by Ruth Heller
from PaperStar Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Grammar Picture Books (Location: GRA-PIC)
$8.99 $5.00 (1 in stock)
Berenstain Bears' Big Book of Science and Nature
by Stan & Jan Berenstain
from Dover Publications
for Preschool-3rd grade
in Nature Study (Location: NAT-GEN)
$15.99
Bible Comes Alive Volume 2
by Clifford Wilson, Barbara Wilson
from New Leaf Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Bible Reference (Location: XBI-REF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Bible Comes Alive Volume 3
by Clifford Wilson, Barbara Wilson
from New Leaf Press
for 6th-10th grade
in Bible Reference (Location: XBI-REF)
$7.50 (1 in stock)
Bible Jesus Read
by Philip Yancey
from Zondervan
for 10th-Adult
in Bible Surveys (Location: XBI-SURV)
$16.99
Bible Mapbook
by Simon Jenkins
1st edition from HarperCollins
for 6th-10th grade
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Bible Study
by Kathleen Buswell Nielson
from P&R Publishing
for 9th-Adult
in Bible Reading & Study (Location: XBI-STUDY)
$11.00
Bird Watching Answer Book
by Laura Erickson, Illustrated by Pedro Fernandes
from Storey Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Birds of the Willamette Valley Region
by Hall Opperman, Harry Nehls & Tom Aversa
1st edition
for 9th-Adult
in Field Guides & Nature Handbooks (Location: NAT-FIELD)
Birds, Nests and Eggs
Take-Along Guide
by Mel Boring
from Northword Press
for 2nd-4th grade
in Birds (Location: SCI-BIRD)
Book That Made Your World
by Vishal Mangalwadi
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 10th-Adult
in Bible & Doctrine (Location: XBI-DOC)
Boys of '76
by Charles Coffin
from Maranatha Publications
Historical Reference for 10th-Adult
in America's Christian Heritage (Location: HISA-CH)
British Museum Visitor's Guide
by John Reeve
from British Museum Press
for 9th-12th grade
in Ancient History (Location: HISW-ANC)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Bugaboo Review
by Sue Sommer
1st edition from New World Library
for 7th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Buried In Ice
by John Geiger, Owen Beattie, Shelley Tanaka
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
But and For, Yet and Nor
Words Are CATegorical
by Brian P. Cleary
from Millbrook Press
for 1st-4th grade
in Grammar Picture Books (Location: GRA-PIC)
Cache of Jewels
by Ruth Heller
from PaperStar Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Grammar Picture Books (Location: GRA-PIC)
$8.99
Cache of Jewels and Other Collective Nouns
by Ruth Heller
from Scholastic Reference
for 1st-4th grade
in Grammar Picture Books (Location: GRA-PIC)
$2.00 (2 in stock)
Calendar Quest
by Jennifer Johnson Garrity
from Brimwood Press
for 4th-6th
in Tools for Young Historians (Location: BIBWV-TYH)
$15.00
Castle
by David Macaulay
from Graphia
Architecture for 4th-8th grade
1978 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$16.99
Castle Diary
by Richard Platt
from Candlewick Press
Historical Fiction for 5th-8th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$7.99 $4.50 (1 in stock)
Cathedral
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
Architecture for 4th-8th grade
1974 Caldecott Honor Book
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$12.99
Caught'ya Again!
by Jane Bell Kiester
1st edition from Maupin House Publishing
for Kindergarten-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
Caught'ya!
by Jane Bell Kiester
3rd edition from Maupin House Publishing
for 7th-12th grade
in Grammar Reference (Location: REF-GRA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
Write Great Fiction
by Nancy Kress
from Writer's Digest
for 7th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Child's First Book of American History
by Earl Schenck Miers, James Daugherty
from Beautiful Feet Books
for 3rd-6th grade
in Beautiful Feet Books (Location: HISCUR-BFB)
$32.95
Chocolate Moose for Dinner
by Fred Gwynne
from Aladdin Paperbacks
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Picture Books (Location: PICTURE)
$8.99
Chortling Bard
by Jane Bell Kiester
from Maupin House Publishing
for 9th-12th grade
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Chronological and Background Charts of the New Testament
by H. Wayne House
from Zondervan
Biblical Reference for 9th-Adult
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Chronological and Background Charts of the Old Testament
by John Walton
2nd edition from Zondervan
Biblical Reference for 9th-Adult
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Cities of the Biblical World
by LaMoine F. DeVries
from Wipf and Stock Publishers
for 11th-Adult
in Bible Geography and Surveys (Location: XBI-GEO)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
City
by David Macaulay
from Houghton Mifflin
for 4th-8th grade
in Oversized History Books (Location: HISW-OVER)
$14.99 $7.50 (2 in stock)
Colonial Town: Williamsburg
by Bobbie Kalman
Revised from Crabtree Publishing
for 1st-8th grade
in Colonial America (1690-1765) (Location: HISA-17COL)
$4.50 (2 in stock)
Complete Rhyming Dictionary
from Dell Publishing
for 1st-Adult
in Dictionaries (Location: REF-DIC)
$8.99
Creative Writer Level 2
by Boris Fishman
from Well-Trained Mind Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Creative Writer (Location: WRI-CREATE)
$18.95
Creepy, Crawly Caterpillars
by Margery Facklam
from Little, Brown & Company
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
Cruden's Complete Concordance
by Alexander Cruden
1979 printing from Zondervan
for 10th-Adult
in Bible Concordances & Word Study (Location: XBI-CONC)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Crusaders, Aztecs, Samurai
by Anne Millard
from Usborne
for 4th-6th grade
in Middle Ages (Location: HISW-MID)
$3.15 (1 in stock)
Daily Life in a Covered Wagon
by Paul Erickson
from Puffin Books
Historical Reference for 3rd-5th Grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$9.99
Debunking Howard Zinn
by Mary Grabar
from Regnery Publishing, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$16.00
Description & Setting
Write Great Fiction
by Ron Rozelle
from Writer's Digest
for 7th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
Desk Atlas of the United States
1st edition from Geography Matters
for 2nd-8th grade
in World & U.S. Atlases (Location: GEO-ATLAS)
Diary of an Early American Boy
by Eric Sloane
from Dover Publications
American History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
$14.95
Digging Up Dinosaurs
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$3.00 (1 in stock)
Dinosaur Bones
by Aliki
from HarperCollins
for 2nd-3rd grade
in Dinosaurs & Fossils (Location: SCI-DINO)
$5.99
Discovery of Design
by Donald DeYoung
from Master Books
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: Christian Books (Location: XCLE)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness Explorers: Insects
by Steve Parker
from DK Publishing
for Preschool-3rd Grade
in Insects & Arachnids (Location: SCI-BUG)
$2.50 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: American Revolution
by Stuart Murray
from DK Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in American Revolution (1765-1783) (Location: HISA-18REV)
$4.50 (1 in stock)
DK Eyewitness: Ancient Egypt
DK Eyewitness Series
by George Hart
from DK Publishing
Egyptian History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Ancient Egypt (Location: HISW-ANEG)
$9.99
DK Eyewitness: Forensic Science
by Chris Cooper
from DK Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in Espionage & Forensic Science (Location: SCI-CRIME)
$9.99
DK Eyewitness: Horse
DK Eyewitness Series
by Juliet Clutton-Brock
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Horses & Ponies (Location: SCI-MAMHOR)
$9.99
DK Eyewitness: Human Body
DK Eyewitness Series
by Steve Parker
from DK Publishing
Science Reference for 4th-8th grade
in Human Anatomy & Physiology (Location: SCI-ANA)
$9.99
DK Eyewitness: World War II
by Simon Adams
from DK Publishing
for 4th-6th grade
in World War II (1939-1945) (Location: HISA-20WW2)
Do's and Don'ts of Yesteryear
by Eric Sloane
from Avon Books
for 5th-9th grade
in Pioneer & Frontier Life (Location: HISA-19PIO)
Drive Thru History America with Dave Stotts: Foundations of Character - Book Only
by David Barton
from Tyndale House
for 6th-10th grade
in Drive Thru History with Dave Stotts (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$6.50 (1 in stock)
Duel of the Ironclads
by Patrick O'Brien
from Walker and Company
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in American Civil War (1860-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
Electricity and Magnetism
by Peter Adamczyk, Paul Francis law
from Usborne
for 4th-8th grade
in Electricity & Magnetism (Location: SCI-PHY)
$4.50 (4 in stock)
Elements
by Theodore Gray
from Black Dog & Leventhal
for 9th-12th grade
in Chemistry (Location: SCI-CHEM)
Elements of Style
by William Strunk & E. B. White
4th edition from Allyn and Bacon
Writing Handbook for 9th-12th grade
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$9.99
Elements of Style
by William Strunk Jr.
Original ed. from Dover Publications
for 9th-12th grade
in Clearance: English & Language Arts (Location: ZCLE-LAN)
$1.00 (1 in stock)
Elements of Style (Illustrated)
by E.B. White, William Strunk Jr.
from Penguin Books
for 7th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$18.00
Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
by Mark Dunn
Reprint from Anchor Books
for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$14.95
Essential Literary Terms
1st edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Writing Reference (Location: REF-WRI)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Eternal Argument
by R. Robin Finley, read by the author
from Analytical Grammar
for 6th-9th grade
in Literary Analysis & Reference (Location: LIR-LAR)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Eureka! It's an Airplane
by Jeanne Bendick
from Millbrook Press
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
Europe Finds the World
Cambridge Introduction to World History
by Trevor Cairns
from Cambridge University
for 6th-9th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$2.00 (1 in stock)
Everything You Need to Know About American History Homework
by Anne Zeman & Kate Kelly
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in American History Reference (Location: HISA-REF)
$5.50 (3 in stock)
Excavating the Past: Ancient Greece
by Christine Hatt
from Heinemann Educational Books
for 4th-6th grade
in Ancient Greece (Location: HISW-ANGR)
$8.99 $6.00 (1 in stock)
Explorers News
The History News
by Michael Johnstone
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Age of Exploration (1450-1700) (Location: HISA-16EXP)
$6.99 $4.50 (4 in stock)
Eyes on Adventure: Exploring Natural Disasters
Eyes on Adventure
by Stella Sands
from KidsBooks, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
$2.00 (2 in stock)
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