General knowledge books, pre-Internet.

Every once in a while, I come across a book from my childhood and I try to introduce it to my daughters. And I'm almost always disappointed at how they just don't seem impressed.

​This is one such book:

Back in the pre-Internet days, books like this were precious for knowledge-seekers like myself. pic.twitter.com/UYcYFT5T87

— J. Nordstrom, edu. (@jnordedu) September 26, 2016

From that book, I learned about Esperanto, Andorra, Alfred Nobel, and the history of candy. I read its articles over and over again and used it in school projects. This book and books like it were my bread and butter for learning and company at home.

There's a long tradition of books like this one:

• 1000 Things Worth Knowing
• 1000 More Things Worth Knowing
• The Maker of Many Things

And here are a few that I've bought for my classroom: my Grade 7s in particular choose them for silent reading time.

The Internet is killing this type of book. It makes me sad. pic.twitter.com/ntOjNnIDKv

— Jeffrey Nordstrom (@jeffnords) January 3, 2017

So why don't I read them very often anymore?

I blame the Internet.

​​Because these books were the Internet before the Internet. These books were a wealth of information that a person just might be looking for. There seemed to be so many times when I would wonder something, crack open one of these books, scour the Table of Contents and the Index, and actually find an article that addressed my curiosity. The writing was always edited carefully and written in a lively, interactive tone. They were perfect for knowledge-seekers like me,

Now I first go to the Internet and these books often lay dormant. I feel a little bit o' melancholy about it, as if something's been lost. But that's probably just me being a sucker for nostalgia.

Which isn't all bad. But I miss the careful editing. The Internet's slapdash chaos is useful for finding specifics, but nothing beats good editing and copy for getting big ideas across.