As a librarian, I am frequently asked “Which encyclopedia should I buy?” by parents who want to ensure that their children will do well in school. (Like computers, many encyclopedias are bought by anxious parents for kids who end up not using them.) If you need an encyclopedia, I recommend The World Book. It has the kinds of questions kids ask, the price is fair, the indexing is simple, and at our library we could not live without it. I use it way more than any other set. Even reference librarians reluctantly agree that it is more useful than academic encyclopedias, especially as a starting point. As one librarian said, “Here’s where you find the answers for real questions that real people ask!”
