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Big Questions from Little People #2 or 3

Does My Goldfish Know Who I am?: And Hundreds More Big Questions from Little People Answered by Experts

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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).

304 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2013

13 people are currently reading
549 people want to read

About the author

Gemma Elwin Harris

2 books10 followers

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Sandra Deaconu.
804 reviews127 followers
December 17, 2023
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!).
Profile Image for Brian Clegg.
Author 163 books3,188 followers
October 9, 2013
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.
Profile Image for Adela Bec.
261 reviews554 followers
June 5, 2015
http://vanillamoonbooks.blogspot.ro/2...

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.
Profile Image for Aliya.
25 reviews
August 28, 2018
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!
Profile Image for Antonia Isadora.
10 reviews
November 17, 2023
Această carte este desebit de interesantă deoarece înveți o tonă de lucruri la care nici măcar nu te-ai gandit.
Profile Image for Andy Cyca.
169 reviews26 followers
July 1, 2016
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.
2 reviews
September 8, 2016
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
Profile Image for Monica.
370 reviews3 followers
July 7, 2017
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.

Definitely recommended!
Profile Image for drworm.
81 reviews6 followers
January 9, 2015
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!
Profile Image for Sia.
217 reviews6 followers
January 1, 2018
It was a fun read and I enjoyed it. Sometimes even silly questions can have interesting answers
Profile Image for Devi.
525 reviews31 followers
February 24, 2018
I found this book to be very insightful 😊
Profile Image for Flapidouille.
898 reviews3 followers
June 1, 2018
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 !
Profile Image for Athina (booknotes_athina).
568 reviews43 followers
June 30, 2022
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.
Profile Image for Claudia Șerbănescu.
528 reviews98 followers
October 15, 2020
Răspunsuri deopotrivă instructive și amuzante pentru întrebările candide și curioase ale celor mici. Informații interesante sunt și în testele de la finalul volumului.
Profile Image for Megan Tidd.
206 reviews
December 7, 2022
Good format for a kid to enjoy nonfiction. Reneya liked guessing the answers to the questions before I read them. Better for elementary age though.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

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