Rose Davidson

This is totally the book you want to include on your road trip with your middle grader . . . unless if course your goal is peace and quiet. Because kids will not be able to resist sharing all the incredible and fascinating factoids in this book.

In truth, adults won’t be able to resist this book either. Did you know, for example, that shovel racers - people who ride snow shovels down snowy hills - can reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour? Or that you can stay in a sandcastle hotel in the show more Netherlands that has sand walls and floors and even a drawbridge and turrets? And who wouldn’t love finding out that an architect in Australia designs eco-friendly homes called “poop houses” that collect and pump out human waste to build the roof and walls?

And think of the quizzes you could have: how much more does a panda mom weigh than her newborn? (900 times!) What about a human mom? (20 times) What's the origin of the superstition that breaking a mirror is bad luck? (Ancient Romans believed that gods saw humans's souls through mirrors.) What are the odds of finding a four-leaf clover? (Around one in 10,000.) What is the cat capital of the world? Okay, fine, I'll stop. You'll have to get the book to find out! What an entertaining book!

I’m definitely getting one for my librarian friend who frequents pubs on trivia nights, as well as my nieces and nephews for their travel entertainment.

There are very fun illustrations by Andy Smith.

Recommended for one and all! show less

Lots of interesting, quirky, or odd facts come across in super short bursts, one right after the other to create tons of fun.

These pages hold many facts (400 according to the title). None take a very deep dive but rather bring across the information clearly and concisely in only a few words. A wide variety of themes are taken into the spotlight to offer something for almost everyone. While some of the facts might already be known, others broaden the knowledge horizon. It's a rich hodge-podge show more of information and brings along a touch of chaos while holding a small string of organization. Each fact holds something, which is loosely related to the next.

The facts are mostly typed inside small boxes, which are connected by a dashed line. By reading the facts according to the path, which zigzags across the page in a variety of directions, readers can follow the general train of subjects and thoughts. Every now and then, a path forks off the main one and indicates an alternative page, where the facts follow a different (but related) theme than the main path. This opens up to some flipping fun.

The illustrations are bright and bold, adding a nice touch as they play along with the facts. There are even ten mice hidden in the illustrations to add a little extra activity.

All in all, it's a great book for anyone wanting to bounce entertaining facts between their siblings or friends, and it works nice to build up a knowledge of facts that can be spit out suddenly to amaze others. There were a few 'facts', which definitely hit the theory end...one or two which aren't even considered to be true anymore by knowers. But that doesn't ruin the fun or even make almost all of these worth learning and discovering.

Fact lovers will enjoy picking this one up. show less

This has been a huge hit with my new reader first grader. He is so excited about this book that he brings it on the school bus to read facts to his friends. I appreciate that this book is both visually appealing for kids and also easy to follow so that they can read it themselves. Fantastic for elementary age.

Clever! Through dotted lines and arrows, you follow fascinating facts across the pages (with planned detours to take you to whatever interests you most). It's colorful, has a well-organized table of contents, and a detailed index. Four stars instead of five for two reasons: First, while I understand that these are bite-sized pieces of information, I'm not sure why relevant people weren't identified (inventors, architects, scientists, record breakers, artists, chefs) or other easy-to-include show more details weren't added (particular species of animal—smallest snail, smallest frog, smallest dinosaur, for example—or names of cities, height of redwood trees, etc.). Second, the "extreme" facts on the last few pages could have been more jaw-dropping; the final section was on recycling.

And not a deal-breaker as far as stars go, but those directional dotted lines could have been bolder. Also, 400 facts? Why not 500?

I will say, though, that as a school librarian, I appreciate the $14.99 price for a nonfiction hardcover. It will make it easier to add to collections with super limited budgets. show less