Choosing an Atlas

Colin Harris recommends atlases for Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 4

Geographers, in Afric maps,

With savage pictures fill their gaps;

O’er uninhabitable downs

Place animals for want of towns.

 

Atlases bring great pleasure. Imagine opening one for the first time and being enthralled by its magic. While they rightly contribute to the development of geographical skills as part of classroom learning for the National Curriculum, they should also be found on the shelves of school libraries where pupils can browse across a wider selection of maybe four or five versions. Yet the choice is daunting. In preparation for this article thirty-six different atlases were considered but only those deemed suitable by both format and purpose as library stock reached the final frame.

WHEN IS AN ATLAS NOT AN ATLAS?

Certain essential questions need to be asked before making a decision. First of all what do you expect of an atlas? By definition it is, not surprisingly, a book of maps, not a book with maps which can turn out to be something altogether different. Some examples described on the cover as ‘atlas’ in reality are encyclopaedias or reference books. Those where maps cover less than half the page surface area hardly count as atlases in the strictest sense, but they do represent a significant slice of market potential and therefore command consideration.

No fewer than fourteen fall into this category. Most are visually attractive though caution is advised where photographs veer towards the travel industry view of geography with shots of cuckoo clocks, cherry blossom and the Taj Mahal – as in Philip’s First Picture Atlas. Far better is the same publisher’s Children’s Atlas combining illustrations which enhance children’s understanding of geographical issues with clear and well balanced maps.

THE ATLAS AS A DATABASE

Equally crucial is what you want an atlas for. Some titles expect children to be excited about the world and challenge them to find excitement and fascination merely dipping into their colourful pages – manna from Heaven to godmothers and others desperate for suitably intelligent but not boring gifts. But the prime purpose of an atlas must surely be to enable the reader to locate places on the earth’s surface and to give a symbolic impression of what the world is really like. If you want to know where a place is, you look it up in an atlas.

The map is therefore a form of visual database showing a selected range of information about places on the earth, with the nature of that information entirely determined by the kinds of maps included in the atlas. It is clearly impossible to include every detail of the earth’s geography, so selection becomes all-important.

WHAT DATA SHOULD IT PROVIDE?

The range of maps offered in a good atlas should combine sets of data labelled conventionally as ‘political’ and ‘physical’. To the commonly found cities and frontiers could be added lines of communication, land use, crops and resources; and to relief, altitude and rivers could be added vegetation, climate, ecological features and conservation data.

While ancient atlases and early published versions for schools contained little more than straightforward maps of the world, continents and countries, with perhaps a selection of climate graphs for good measure, modern tastes demand increasingly ingenious selections of thematic maps, most of which offer rich veins for digging out information on conservation, leisure, pollution, and disasters as well as the more conventional soils and vegetation. So the best atlases will combine both topograhical maps (what places are like) with thematic ones (distributions of selected topical information).

PRESENTING DATA VISUALLY

In trying to show the world as it is, map makers face two main dilemmas. How do you draw a curved earth on a flat page? How can you show differences in altitude (relief)?

Projections

No portrayal of the earth can be ‘correct’. While Peters’ equal area projection shows continents and countries at the correct size in relation to each other, the peculiar elongation of the southern continents detract from its value, especially with younger children. Atlases which over-use Mercator (e.g. showing Greenland bigger than China) should be avoided. The best compromise for world maps is Gall’s projection used in many of the best atlases. For maps of the British Isles the choice of projection is not critical.

Relief

When it comes to showing relief, the choice available ranges from no attempt at all, through a series of symbolic representations (with hills like little lumps and mountains so universally pointed as to obscure most other detail for large stretches of Asia and North America), to shades of layer colouring, some garish, some confusingly muted, and combinations of semi-3D hill shading. Old county maps of England certainly do show little lines of rolling hills. While young children might be attracted initially to this format, some of the simpler coloured layer schemes in the end may be more helpful. There may be some understandable confusion over oblique and vertical views. Certainly very young children draw ‘maps’ with front elevation views of houses and only later adopt a conventional plan view. Atlases generally should encourage a more abstract depiction of the world.

Symbols

Some young children’s atlases, as well as some ‘reference’ versions, revert to the early African cartographer’s ploy of spreading little pictures across the map. These may look interesting (they are certainly popular) but what messages do they convey about both maps and the places they depict? In Dorling Kindersley’s My First Atlas, for example, Crete is entirely occupied by a couple of sun-bathing tourists and in Philip’s Picture Atlas for Children Wales has a rugby player and England rejoices in Stonehenge, Shakespeare, Parliament, cricket, a horse rider and Wedgwood china. Collins’ Picture Atlas of the World displays an ingenious combination of pictorial symbols for relief and land use. Mountains, forests and farmland are clearly identified, though the misleading impression given is that all arable land forms a patchwork of little fields, with southern England no different from the Deccan of India.

Clarity

Maps should be easy to understand so clarity ranks high on the choice scale. If children open an atlas and are immediately confused, they will soon lose interest. They can, however, cope with a wealth of finely drawn detail, as the success of the ‘Where’s Wally?’ books testifies, but maps which have too many bits of overlapping information will sow confusion. On the other hand, maps free of clutter may also be unhelpfully empty. While commendably original, The Children’s First Atlas Using the Peters’ Projection gives us map outlines totally devoid of detail save for located references to marginal illustrations and examples. This is really a challenging reference book with location maps.

Closely linked to clarity is attractiveness: atlases should be attractive to look at and use. The best ones simply shout to be read. Watts First Atlas ‘for the very young’, offers a fresh enticing cover, as does, in a more conventional sense, Philip’s Children’s Atlas. But it’s what unfolds when the atlas is opened that determines ultimate success.

Scale

Maps of individual countries cannot successfully be represented on the same scale as world maps. The smaller the scale, the less the detail that can be shown. A world map covering two pages can hardly include many British towns and rivers while a map of England and Wales will not show these countries in relation to Australia. What is important is the provision of maps of varying scales, with some indication of relative size by including an insert of some familiar place (like the British Isles) at the same scale. Some larger scale maps of regions and even cities enable children to relate scale to amount of detail.

Keys and Indexes

Some atlases identify ways of showing physical and ‘human’ features only in the opening pages, requiring readers constantly to refer back to the key. Others provide a key on each page opening. For younger children the representative fraction (RF) – e.g. 1:1 million – is less helpful than what some call the ‘scale bar’ – i.e. a linear scale with miles and kilometres marked off.

If the atlas primarily acts as a place reference, the selection of detail and the means of finding out what’s there through a decent index assume importance.

ACCURACY AND CURRENCY

An atlas should be accurate and up-to-date. Publishers certainly evoke sympathy as they diligently try to keep up with rapidly changing eastern European frontiers and unpredictable name changes, principally in Africa but now also in Asia. The alert student of current affairs will know that Burma is now Myanma (with or without an ‘r’ at the end). Only the latest editions will acknowledge this change, while some atlases cautiously print both names. Maps showing economic and demographic data will inevitably lack validity if the dates for which they are accurate are not given.

We do have to take in faith that certain places are where they are when we see them in an atlas. Children who spot St Basil’s Church both inside and outside the Kremlin (for the record it is in Red Square) may be encouraged to develop a degree of healthy scepticism.

RECOMMENDATIONS

All atlases have something to commend them and the choice is very much a matter of preference. For the school library the following are certainly worth considering.

The Oxford Infant Atlas,

OUP (1994), 0 19 831687 9, £2.50 pbk

A delightful little atlas, easy on small hands, simple and in full colour. Rather flimsy and may not survive constant library use. KS1.

First Atlas,

Watts (1994), 0 7496 0829 3, £7.99

Highly appealing to the young reader. Contains pages of enticing cartoons and speech bubbles with maps vividly illustrated. Less strong on cartography but designed to attract attention. KS1.

The Wayland Picture Atlas,

Wayland (1993, second impression with revisions), 0 7502 0500 8, £7.99

Clear bold maps, uncluttered though with some empty spaces. More than half the pages are of maps. Reference knowledge a little eccentric. KS1/2.

Children’s Atlas of the World,

Collins (1994), 0 00 448131 3, £8.99

Good blend of clearly readable maps and useful information. Would be well thumbed in a library. No maps of regions in UK. KS2.

Children’s World Atlas,

Kingfisher (1992, with revisions), 1 85697 058 2, £5.99

Has been around since 1987 in this form. Still worth considering for the clarity of the maps though the country information does take up too much of the space. KS2.

Junior School Atlas,

Philip’s (1993), 0 540 05748 7, £5.99

Particularly good value; good range of maps and cartographic style. Unusually bright browns and greens on physical maps add to the clarity. Country maps of the UK but no regional ones. KS2.

The Oxford Junior Atlas,

OUP (1995), 0 19 831697 6, £5.99

An excellent choice with good clear cartography and selection of maps which emphasise the regions of Great Britain. Will serve as a reference for Key Stage 2 as well as a class atlas. Pictures slightly more than required in an atlas and there is no index to world places. KS2.

Picture Atlas of the World,

Collins (1994), 0 00 196570 0, £9.99

Entertaining as well as informative. Worth considering if only for the novel, if sometimes confusing, use of pictorial symbols. Marginal information not too intrusive. KS2.

Children’s Atlas,

Philip’s (1994, sixth edition revised), 0 540 0583 0, £8.99

Superb combination of non-stereotypical world geographical information and excellently drawn maps (human and physical features on the same maps). Text by David and Jill Wright fascinates and informs. The best atlas and reference book. KS2/3.

The Children’s First Atlas Using the Peters’ Projection,

Belitha Press (1995), 1 85561 304 2, £9.99

Printed in landscape format. Hardly an atlas because you cannot find where places are, but does locate geographical features and discusses major global zones. All maps are of the world. KS2/3.

The New Oxford School Atlas,

OUP (1993, 2nd edition), 0 19 831682 8, £8.50

Still the best choice for the secondary school library and classroom. This is a real atlas, crammed with exciting detail. KS3.

Philip’s World Atlas,

Philip’s (1994), 0 540 05827 0, £12.99

Illustrated World Atlas,

Bartholomew (1994), 0 7028 2616 2, £12.99

Two definitive atlases worthy of the name. Both are based on classic cartography drawn to inform rather than for novelty. More suitable for Key Stage 4 and beyond. KS4.

The Eyewitness Atlas of the World

Dorling Kindersley (1994), 0 7513 5126 1, £14.99

The most expensive, and biggest, but good value for money. More a pot pourri of interesting geographical detail than a formal atlas. Family use.

Colin Harris was formerly Hertfordshire’s advisor for geography and environmental education. He’s now an OFSTED inspector, a freelance consultant overseas, Joint Honorary Secretary to the Geographical Association and author of several books for children.