Pop-Up Atlas of the World

Although this is billed as an atlas ``with three-dimensional globes,'' only half-spheres appear on three spreads. It's a remarkable feat of paper engineering and more notable than the apparently random selection of facts given to characterize only a sampling of the countries of the world. For example, China, Italy and Indonesia are each given a short paragraph, but five European countries are lumped under the brief notation ``Scandinavia.'' The Mississippi river gets a small entry but is not named on any map. Calling this book an atlas is an overstatement; the volume would be much more accurately represented as pop-up maps of the world and an assortment of facts. Ages 8-up. (June)