Monday, August 09, 2010

Nonfiction Monday: Weird But True!

Weird But True: 300 Outrageous Facts (National Geographic Kids)I have two awesome books for you today!

Weird But True: 300 Outrageous Facts and Weird but True! 2: 300 Outrageous Facts, both by the National Geographic Kids

Both books have a brilliant design-- graphic heavy with great colors and lots of different fonts. Visually, this is the type of book that kids absolutely love to look at. Even better, it's just a collection of facts, so it's a great book for kids to pick up and leaf through and put back down. Although, once you start leafing through, you won't be able to put it back down until you've read it all.

BUT! BEST OF ALL!

The facts are just fun!

I liked the Monopoly facts because Dan gave me the Monopoly app and sooooooooooooooo addictive.

The longest game of Monopoly played in a bathtub lasted for 99 hours.
The longest game of Monopoly played in a tree house lasted 286 hours.

Weird but True! 2: 300 Outrageous FactsAlso, I learned a lot about hippos:

They sweat red, can be more dangerous than lions, can run as fast as humans, and their lips are about two feet wide.

Speaking of Lions, did you know that South Africa's giant bullfrogs sometimes attack lions?

Some of the facts are things that I already knew-- French Fries are Belgian, not French, a tiger's skin is striped like its fur, and there are more plastic flamingos in the US than real flamingos.

But, some I didn't and are just plain fun:

It's illegal to sell a haunted house in New York without telling the buyer.

Recycling 1 soda can saves enough energy to run a TV for 3 hours.

There's a one in one trillion chance that your house will be hit by space junk. TODAY.

Super fun and a sure fire hit.

HELPFUL LIBRARY HINT: My best display of the summer was "fun books to look at while waiting for your turn on the computer." So, a lot of picture riddles, various illustrated editions of the Guinness World Records, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, and books like these from National Geographic.

The kids love the display and it keeps them from getting into too much trouble on those days when 5 large groups decide to come to the library at the exact same time. Not only are these two books fun, they're a lifesaver for the busy librarian.

Check out the full round up over at Moms Inspire Learning!

Book Provided by... my local library (the first one) and my wallet (the second one.)

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1 comment:

Abby said...

1. I just ordered these books for my library. Our kids are going to love them! Glad to hear that they are awesome.

2. That is a fabulous idea for a display!