Why do zebras have stripes? Why do we close our eyes when we sneeze? Why are farts flammable? Why do we have recessions when we can just print more money?
If you've ever been flummoxed by a child's questions, Big Questions and Instant Answers is the perfect book for you. With over 300 real questions from primary school aged children, the book offers bite-sized answers from world class experts - digestible in under 60 seconds.
Following the huge success of Big Questions from Little People published in Autumn 2012, this new volume will also include quizzes and favourite facts sections, making it a perfect gift for families.
At least 33% of the publisher's advance payments and 67% of net royalty income in respect of sales of this book is payable to the NSPCC (Registered Charity Numbers 216401 & SC037717).
Unele răspunsuri sunt stupide, scrise evident pentru a închide gura copiilor. Altele, în schimb, sunt simpatice și chiar utile (recunosc fără jenă că am învățat lucruri noi dintr-o carte pentru copii!).
What do David Attenborough, Noam Chomsky, Derren Brown, Bear Grylls, Miranda Hart, Heston Blumenthal (oh, and me) all have in common? They’ve all contributed to a great little book where assorted folk give answers to questions about life, the universe and everything by young people aged 11 and under, pulled together to form a solid little hardback. And to make things even better, the profits from the book go to the NSPCC.
Opening it at random, I can discover:
What is DNA? How come planes don’t crash in the sky? Why are bumble bees disappearing? Why do stars twinkle and
Who killed the last dodo? Although the answers are phrased to be suitable for primary school children, many of the questions will entertain and test any reader. (Speaking of tests, there are some fun little quizzes towards the back.) The topics aren’t all science – Miranda Hart, for instance, answers Why is it funny when someone farts? (okay, that is probably psychology, but there are also, for instance, history questions) – but science does rather dominate, which apart from anything reflects how interested young people are in science. If only we could keep that interest alive.
The only real criticism I have is the deeply unsatisfying answer to ‘What is the whole point of science?’ given by biologist John Gurdon, whose entire reply (to a 7-year-old) is ‘Science makes continuous advances in the quality of life.’ That’s really not good enough.
It’s a great project that I’m proud to have been part of, and makes a lovely present for primary age children.
It is normal to have many questions as a kid - about life, about society, about science. Curiosity does not always kill the cat, more than often it is the thing that helps humanity evolve and discover new things. In this book, experts in various domains, from physicists to professional football players answer to some of the many questions children have.
I believe I would have loved this book as a child, I often read things like this one - even though there weren't so many of them available then in my country. As an adult, however, I was able to view things a little more objectively.
Generally, most of the questions are pertinent and the answers are clearly formulated in simple terms so the children can understand the information given to them. It is nice to see the names and ages of each child who asks a question, but there were situations in which I thought considering the age of the little curious one, the answer was a bit too complicated or the opposite - an older child who I thought should be getting a more precise answer. Also, some of the questions are rather silly, and could have been easilly answered to by parents - so I couldn't see the point of being added to the book. I suppose it was for the comedic effect. I was not amused.
I will admit, however, that the question about goldfish knowing who their owners are was the exception here, since it was actually funny and made for a very attention-grabbing title for the book.
By the time I reached the half of this book, I started to get bored and a few pages later, the book turns to quizzes created by children - yay, I knew almost all of the answers - which I think would've made the book more fun if they were placed throughout it. If I was getting sleepy, then you can bet kids were too.
Finally, we get to the thing that annoyed me about this science book for children - the ending, consisting of 20% of my digital review copy was filled with information about the people who answered those questions. If they are also included in the printed copy, then I think this is a very sad waste of papers, since everyone who cares to find out more about these people can also use Google, thank you very much.
All in all, this probably still is very entertaining and educational for children, so if your little one is curious about science even the tiniest bit (or if you're trying to get him or her to be), you should try getting this title for them.
Are you that person who always comes up with the strangest questions? like " Could i survive, eating only Bananas?" or "Why do my figures go all wrinkly in the bath?" or even "Does my goldfish know who I am???" I rate this brain tingling book 5/5! if you ever need to know answers to silly questions this is the book for you! " Do goldfish actually have a 5 second memory?" And one GREAT thing i love about this book, is at the very end is a quiz, so you can test your memory! with almost 320 pages of interesting facts, you have to read this book!
Not as good as the previous book in the series, but a great book nonetheless. This time the questions are answered very directly, most of them in a page or two (in my Kindle reader, I don't actually know about the printed book), although there are many more questions.
There's also a 'Quiz' section at the end to test your knowledge in several questions asked by children. Although not my cup of tea, I applaud the effort in this section as a great aid for parents and teachers.
I think that this book is very interesting even though it is very simple. It talks about questions that many children may ask when they were very young, such as "how big is the universe?", "how tall is the sky?", "why are kiwi's so hairy?", and even the title, "does my goldfish know who I am?". These questions made me think of the stupid questions that I have asked my parents when I was young, now I think that I was really stupid as I know that they are unanswerable questions
This was an excellent book, full of intriguing questions and funny answers from a wide range of people from David Attenborough to a guy who coached a soccer team on a tiny island!
It's also an easy read since the book is aimed at children, but all the answers are informative, plus there's 8 quizzes in the back to test your brain power.
I love this book. This book provides simple and comprehendable answers to complicated questions. There are many new information I gained from this book. Love it!
I enjoyed keeping it at hand and treating myself to a few pages whenever I got a free moment. No age-group in particular, but I recommend giving a copy to every child & teenager you know !
It is a book with answers to a great variety of questions that the children (aged 12 and under) have asked. Experts give short and comprehensive answers to all of these questions. I found it really interesting , entertaining and very informative. I highly recommend it to children and adults alike.
Răspunsuri deopotrivă instructive și amuzante pentru întrebările candide și curioase ale celor mici. Informații interesante sunt și în testele de la finalul volumului.