If life is like a box of chocolates, then this jam-packed reference book is like a four-layer sampler. The book boasts wall-to-wall illustrations and text bites, and while the entries are not overly detailed, the pictorials will spark imaginations and spur many kids on to further exploration. One of the best entries is the book's only four-page spread, on the Saturn V rocket: Each layer of the rocket is examined, and the rocket's interior is displayed in a cutaway illustration.

Along with the technical explanations (made kid-friendly), most entries contain odd bits of history or interesting factoids. The section on how doughnuts are made reveals that Dutch immigrants brought the item to America and that nearly half a billion dollars' worth of the fried treats were sold in the United States in 1994.

Some of the layouts may be hard to follow at first. The pages are crowded, and the bits of information run and cascade every which way around the illustrations. Eager readers will soon get the hang of the twisty format, but the crowded layout may overwhelm or turn off readers who lack enough patience or concentration. Difficult terms used within the entries are explained in parentheses: armature (steel frame), natron (naturally occurring sodium carbonate).