My mom was an avid believer in early learning. Too bad I wasn't an avid reader. I had an entire collection of the Child Craft Encyclopedia when I was a kid, and it just sat there ideally on my shelf.
From time-to-time, I used to read the one that had dinosaurs, but that got boring after I flipped through all the pictures. When I was getting ready to move to the US, I ended up giving away all those books to charity. It was a beautiful collection, and I'm sure some one else appreciated them a lot more than I did.
I found my first copy at my doctor's office once. I really enjoyed how each segment was color coded to make finding certain things easier.