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Encyclopedia Brown's Second Record Book of Weird and Wonderful Facts
Encyclopedia Brown presents another volume of lesser-known facts about sports, animals, the body, school, and other topics.
144 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
37 people want to read
About the author
Donald J. Sobol
185 books227 followersDonald J. Sobol was an award-winning writer best known for his children's books, especially the Encyclopedia Brown mystery series. Mr. Sobol passed away in July of 2012.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 26, 2020
Much of the information should be checked; this is an old book. Also, not much of it is likely to be of use to solve the kind of mysteries that are in most Encyclopedia Brown mystery collections.
The sports section is boring; mostly a list of "umpteen - zero" games and how they happened.
The animals and human body sections are interesting, but there especially I would help my child learn research skills by fact-checking any of the claims that seem the least bit questionable, or that need to be updated. For example, an entry rightly points out that people who feed birds are messing up the birds' migratory patterns, and if they don't follow through all winter, stranded birds will starve. An update is needed for the examples of Illinois' mockingbirds and Carolina wrens... are they still in trouble? Also, decide for yourself after doing good research... is it a good idea to feed birds, and if so, which and when?
.....
There are also good opportunities to teach your kids the difference between correlation and causation. What does it actually signify to say that "kids who spell poorly are more likely to become criminals than kids who spell well?"
And then, consider ramifications and nuances and related correlations: "Students academically below average are more likely to become victims of school crime." Tease out the factors contributing to those two correlative effects and you might be able to propose some changes likely to be effective... but address either alone as if there's a cause & effect relationship, and you'll likely fail. After all, if school reform were as easy as focusing on spelling, we'd have better schools and fewer criminals already.
And think of a child reading this book without adult guidance. Is he going to look at his struggling classmates and subconsciously assume that they're all either criminals or victims?
.....
The chapter "Aspirin Alley" is akin to what is perhaps nowadays more well-known as "Darwin awards." My ex-husband is a fan of those... he may very well have read this book when he was a kid. And, yeah, the correlation of why he's my *ex* is almost causal, there.... Anyway, I don't know the value of that chapter for kids; on the one hand, the stories could be seen as cautionary, on the other, they may well encourage cynicism. I strongly believe in preserving children's innocence as best as we reasonably can, because innocence -> idealism -> the capability to work for a brighter future for themselves and for our small world.
.....
Overall, I do recommend this, for families studying together. Not for trivia buffs of any age, though.
The sports section is boring; mostly a list of "umpteen - zero" games and how they happened.
The animals and human body sections are interesting, but there especially I would help my child learn research skills by fact-checking any of the claims that seem the least bit questionable, or that need to be updated. For example, an entry rightly points out that people who feed birds are messing up the birds' migratory patterns, and if they don't follow through all winter, stranded birds will starve. An update is needed for the examples of Illinois' mockingbirds and Carolina wrens... are they still in trouble? Also, decide for yourself after doing good research... is it a good idea to feed birds, and if so, which and when?
.....
There are also good opportunities to teach your kids the difference between correlation and causation. What does it actually signify to say that "kids who spell poorly are more likely to become criminals than kids who spell well?"
And then, consider ramifications and nuances and related correlations: "Students academically below average are more likely to become victims of school crime." Tease out the factors contributing to those two correlative effects and you might be able to propose some changes likely to be effective... but address either alone as if there's a cause & effect relationship, and you'll likely fail. After all, if school reform were as easy as focusing on spelling, we'd have better schools and fewer criminals already.
And think of a child reading this book without adult guidance. Is he going to look at his struggling classmates and subconsciously assume that they're all either criminals or victims?
.....
The chapter "Aspirin Alley" is akin to what is perhaps nowadays more well-known as "Darwin awards." My ex-husband is a fan of those... he may very well have read this book when he was a kid. And, yeah, the correlation of why he's my *ex* is almost causal, there.... Anyway, I don't know the value of that chapter for kids; on the one hand, the stories could be seen as cautionary, on the other, they may well encourage cynicism. I strongly believe in preserving children's innocence as best as we reasonably can, because innocence -> idealism -> the capability to work for a brighter future for themselves and for our small world.
.....
Overall, I do recommend this, for families studying together. Not for trivia buffs of any age, though.
August 11, 2009
This book is great for kids and adults. It was so interesting and had a story for everyone.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews