DK Find Out! Website

DK Find Out! Fun facts for kids on animals, earth, history and more. An educational website created by Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2015. Available at http://www.dkfindout.com/us/

Annotation: DK has done it again! This time, instead of a print edition of the well-designed and visually-oriented layouts of informational text that they are known for, the publisher has expanded to the internet and created a resource for curious kids who want to "find out more". 

Summary: This is a cleanly designed website which is still in its beta phase, but even in this early stage, shows great promise as a resource that educates children about the world around them in such an engaging way that they won't even notice they are learning. With major categories such as "Animals and Nature", "Human Body", "Math", and "English", there is something here for every interest.

As shown in the screen shot below, the graphics are labeled with interactive buttons which, when clicked, open additional content or descriptive text.

There are fun quizzes to test your knowledge on particular subjects, videos, and photo galleries to explore. Currently, the site is available for educators, but there is a module coming soon for parents and children to use at home. There will also be a feature to save your favorite content for later reference that is currently in development.

Critical Evaluation: While this web encyclopedia is geared towards children at the high end of our target age range (and even older), it is a wonderful resource for the factual-oriented young person, and worthy of mention. DK's high standards for photography and overall design, as found in their print publications, are present here as well in the high-quality graphics and clean layout.

While DK Find Out! is offered through the internet, it is a secure site, and safe for children to use. The website is also available at no cost, which allows school, libraries, and families of all economic levels to have the same ability to access the content, an important factor to consider when combating the digital divide.

Also of note for educators is the curriculum-oriented content with suggested projects and assignments that relate to the subject matter on the website. It is evident that the developers of this site have put a great deal of thought into making it highly attractive to children, as well as practical and helpful to educators. A link to the DK Find Out! site would be a valuable addition to a school or library homepage or list of homework resources.

Age or Interest Level: Ages 6 and Up

Awards: ---

Why Included? This would be very useful in a school or library environment for children to reference particular topics for an assignment, or simply to browse the website for whatever strikes their fancy that day.