There is so much beauty on this wonderful planet and while I have always known this, DK/Smithsonian’s Natural Wonders of the World ($65) certainly makes me appreciate it even more.

The book contains stunning photographs of some of the most beautiful places in the world, along with the creatures, plants and features you can find within it. There are also graphs, satellite images and detailed artwork, which is used to explain how the area was formed or what it looks like if you go directly down through a volcano or right to the Earth’s core, for example.

Each part of the world offers an overview, then breaks the continent into various topics such as glaciers and ice sheets, deserts and rivers and lakes.

There is a section on extreme weather and the the directory and glossary contains more information.

I have looked through the book dozens of times, each time stopping to read different sections and learning more about the feature images. Some I keep going back to like the pure size of Greenland’s Ice Sheet. There is a picture of a helicopter flying by it and it’s amazing in the pure size of it.

Also in North America is the cave of crystals, which was discovered by accident when workers at a mine were excavating a new tunnel in northern Mexico. There is also a picture of a man in this cave and it’s…crazy, amazing, awe-inspiring. I just don’t have the words. Imagine discovering an area full of crystals, the largest of which is 30 feet long and weighs 55 tons? Mind-blowing. How much more is out there that we still haven’t discovered (and perhaps shouldn’t)?

As the preface says, “but rather than reading from cover to cover, this is a book that you will pick up, put down and then return to time and time again as you try to decide where next in the world you wish to travel to.”

A copy of this book was provided by DB Books for an honest review.
The opinions are my own.