Ye Olde Weird But True!: 300 Outrageous Facts from History

Weird but True! Topics

by National Geographic Kids

Nothing attracts young readers like the weird but true...especially when the weird truth is hundreds of years old.  Ye Olde Weird But True , the newest addition to the blockbuster  Weird But True  series, is packed with 300 wacky facts for history lovers ages 6 and up.

In this latest addition to this phenomenal series, readers will have more zany fun, this time from the pages of history!  Ye Olde Weird But True  delivers 100 percent new content, with 500 more of the amazing facts and photos that kids just can't get enough of.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, Picture Books, Trivia

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2013

About the author

With more than 600 titles—including the popular Weird But True franchise and the New York Times Best Selling National Geographic Kids Almanac—National Geographic Kids Books is the recognized leader in nonfiction for kids. Published in 28 languages, NGK Books reaches approximately 85 million kids every year.

Offering K-12 educators resources that align to and support the Common Core State Standards, National Geographic has a long history of providing high-quality informational texts suitable for primary, upper elementary, and middle school English language arts, social studies, and science classrooms.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This installment in National Geographic Kids Weird but True series is a great way to get kids interested in history. These interesting facts will have kids sharing newfound knowledge, asking questions, and wondering more about these curious and little-known pieces of history. You can’t go wrong with any book in this series as each is a fun, interesting, and surprising read!

Many ancient physicians used spiderwebs as Band-Aids.

There were no dinner plates in medieval times. Dinner was served upon slabs of stale bread.

Legend has it that England’s Queen Elizabeth II’s mom grew up in a haunted castle.

Athletes competed at the Olympics in ancient Greece without any clothes on.

The game of hopscotch began as a training exercise for ancient Roman soldiers.

Ancient Greeks carried coins in their mouths because they didn’t have pockets.

Almost 2000 years after a volcanic eruption buried Pompeii, archaeologists discovered loaves of bread still sitting in the city’s ovens.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess we pretty much wiped out the National Geographic Kids book section of the library. My son has been following me around reading these random facts to me for days. Interesting history and much less gross than the aptly named gross edition.

[Barbara Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving these "weird but true" books. I often learn the most reading books that were written for children! I highly recommend this book not only for the children in your life, but for the adults, too. :)

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series. They're so much fun to read. The fifth graders love them too. Here's a few fun nuggets:

*Queen Victoria received a 1000 pound wheel of cheese as a wedding present.
*In 1919 a tank burst and an 8 foot wave of sticky molasses flooded the streets of Boston, Massachusetts.
*In 1952 the first toy commercial was about Mr. Potato Head.
*In the 1300s some fashionable Englishmen wore pointy shoes that stretch nearly 2 feet long.
*The Chinese invented toilet paper. (Yay!!)

[Colton]

it was good book

[Meg McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read! I love learning new things; and National Geographic is a great source, for learning - that is both fun and educational!

These little gems, of trivia, were my favorites.

A. Medieval doctors wore bird masks, stuffed with herbs, to ward off bad smells.

B. To avoid being buried alive, fairy tale author, Hans Christian Anderson kept a note by his bed that said: "I only seem to be dead."

C. Mary, Queen of Scots, was beheaded; but, her little dog survived by hiding under her dress.

D. Samurai warriors were paid with RICE.

E. After the U. S. Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, nearby trees were so full of bullets, that they died from lead poisoning.

As Lord Byron wrote, "Tis strange - but true; for truth is always strange; Stranger than fiction."

[Jackson Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loads of interesting facts that I found really interesting! I shared many of them with friends. Nice photographs and illustrations. The design on some of the pages is really cool, but a couple of them were just too much and it was a strain to read them such as the BRIGHT YELLOW page with a Chinese fact about wearing the color yellow. It was so bright that I did not like that page. It could have the coolest fact and I would still hate that page because the darn page is ridiculously bright.

Other than that, it's easy to read. I read this in one sitting, but it probably took around two hours or more with me stopping to tell some facts to friends.

[Yesnomabeyorso · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is so bad, it's also so bad for kids, the fact that the kids want to actually learn something from it but its full of lies. for example " The chinese people like to eat mice" LIKE WHAT THE HECK ?! this book is just like a book of wikepidia >:( do not buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle Grade readers and anyone interested in "weird" facts and trivia about history will thoroughly enjoy the "300 outrageous facts" contained in this visually appealing volume compiled by the creators of National Geographic Kids.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting facts in the book. However, I think that a lot of it read just as tidbits of trivia, not necessarily "weird" facts.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Sarah]

i remember when this came OUT that was NINE YEARS AGO wHAT

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned quite a bit through reading this book. Most of it went over my seven years old head, but it is never too early to start teaching about history.

[Hannah TC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was an incredible fact book with many facts about history from ancient history to the '80s.

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[nadhervina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually 4.5 stars because some facts somehow made me doubt but well it was fun to be read!

[Joannah Keats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you know that the Roman ruler Julius Caesar was once captured by pirates? And speaking of Rome, at an ancient feast, diners were served a chicken, stuffed inside a duck, inside a goose, inside a pig, inside a cow. Maybe you’re interested in something a little more recent. Well did you know that during the US Civil War in 1863, 10,000 confederate soldiers had one of the biggest snowball fights in history? There is something for everyone in this latest offering from National Geographic Kids in the wildly successful Weird But True series. Full color photographs on every page and visually interesting text make this a very accessible read for nearly all ages.

Ye Olde Weird But True makes a great addition to a social studies or history classroom library in particular. Beginning each class with a weird fact from history is a great way to grab attention and spark interest. The index in the back allows kids and teachers to look up facts on specific topics, and the dates provided for each fact give helpful context to the information being presented, making it easy to research the subject further. Reading and writing teachers can use this title as a way to teach kids how to understand and write historical fiction by using the facts as writing prompts. For example, the book tells us that Harry Houdini’s wife held seances on Halloween to try to contact her dead husband. Asking kids to write a story about what they think happened teaches them to use factual information as a starting point for writing fiction, and also fosters critical thinking skills - “if you read this crazy fact in a fiction book, would you believe it? Would you look it up to find out?”

There is more meat to this book than meets the eye, especially for teachers who like to think out-of-the-box when designing their curriculum. Kids will love it because it’s cool and fun to look at. What was explorer Mary Kingsley wearing in the 1890s as she trekked across Africa and fought a crocodile? You know you want to know.

[Kellee Moye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review at: http://www.unleashingreaders.com/?p=2356

Students love these books (as do I)! They are fascinated with all of the facts and it causes such conversation in the classroom. What I would love to see done with them is take them beyond the just fun books that students read parts of and put aside. I can picture bringing out all of my Weird but True books and allowing students to choose a fact from them and researching the fact. They would then share their fact with the class—a little mini research project. I did this years ago with Sharks where I let them choose any facts or question about sharks, research, and share and it was a very successful project because everyone was so engaged. I could see the same thing happening with the Weird but True books because the students would be able to pick a topic that interests them. I can just picture one student researching using maggots to clean wounds in the 19th century while the student next to him researches Roy Chapman Andrews, the real Indiana Jones.

[Heather Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will appeal to older elementary and young middle school students. This tiny book is absolutely full of interesting facts from history. That's it. Simple, straightforward. Sometimes, it's fun, cute, or downright disgusting. I love the short index in the back of the book, information about the National Geographic Society, and the photo credits. Good job!

However, this doesn't provide any direction or call to action on where to go if the student wants to know more about a particular subject. They have to settle for a small statement on the subject and move on. The facts are organized randomly, and may have benefited from being organized by subject or chronologically. There are no credits or references for the facts, so a student cannot even resort to citations. This gives the student a start, a peak of interest, but that's all they get.

This is a good starting place for interesting facts, but don't look further for anything else.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a wee little obsession with Horrible Histories. This book was perfect for me. Some of the facts I already knew having watched HH (from their skits, their quizzes, their songs), but most were new to me. I personally love learning I-didn't-know-that facts. That is what makes nonfiction fun for me. The more of these facts sprinkled in a nonfiction read, the better! The book was crazy and random in a mostly good way. The facts aren't exactly organized.

"Fashionable English ladies used to wear fake eyebrows made of mouse skin." (58-59)

Gorgeous Georgian Lady song from Horrible Histories.

[The Reading Countess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is a favorite of mine not only because of its wide variance in subject matter and its "WOAH" factor in regards to the facts, but because it entices even the most reluctant of readers to read-from cover to cover no less.

Highly recommended.

[Thia]

interesting opening for older kids

[Cmdr Bly · Rating 5 out of 5]

i had a really fun time reading this book i think if you like the weird but true books or the rippleys books then you would love weird but true ye olde

[Neko]

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