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Crazy Canadian Trivia
A fresh new look for the book that made us all crazy for Canada! With an updated, bright and amusing new cover the first volume of Crazy Canadian Trivia is ready to be rediscovered! This book is jam-packed with facts touting all the quirky things about Canada you didn't know, including the details about a mosquito appreciation day, the strongest man in the world, the oldest living person, the longest gum-wrapper chain and a description of the day Niagara Falls actually stopped falling! Perfect for read-aloud and for family dinner discussion, these hundreds of tidbits will make any kid proud to be Canadian!
- GenresNonfictionHumor
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Pat Hancock
46 books10 followersPat Hancock’s five Haunted Canada books combine spooky stories and eerie illustrations with interesting facts about Canadian history. Readers will be thrilled and chilled by her hair-raising stories! Haunted Canada: True Ghost Stories garnered the Saskatchewan Silver Willow Award in 2004. A longtime collector of funny but true facts about Canada, Pat is also well-known for her three collections of Crazy Canadian Trivia books.
Pat spent much of her life teaching science and English, until she retired and became a full-time parent. She says that reading to her three children sparked her interest in writing. She continues to teach English courses at the University of Toronto and Ryerson, and also leads writing workshops.
Pat spent much of her life teaching science and English, until she retired and became a full-time parent. She says that reading to her three children sparked her interest in writing. She continues to teach English courses at the University of Toronto and Ryerson, and also leads writing workshops.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 19, 2021
Yes indeed and truly, Pat Hancock has certainly made her 2009 Crazy Canadian Trivia full full full of fun facts about Canada as a country and Canadians as a people, some of which I of course already do know, but there equally are many nuggets of Canadiana included in Crazy Canadian Trivia that are either new to and for me or have been nicely expanded by Hancock (and thus are giving me, are giving potential readers a much more complete and whole picture).
For example, I certainly was totally unaware of the fact that it was Canadian writer Leslie McFarlane who wrote the famous Hardy Boys children’s mysteries under the pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon (and that he was also contractionally forbidden by his employer to mention this to anyone, even to his own family). And while I am more than well aware of the fact that Canada is internationally renowned for its covered bridges and that the covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick is considered to be the longest covered bridge in the world, I actually did not know that according to Crazy Canadian Trivia and Pat Hancock’s presented text, according to her featured information, covered bridges are often called kissing bridges because in bygone days, courting couples used to smootch on covered bridges to keep their romances away and secret from spying and gossiping neighbours (and potentially disapproving family members), not to mention that the information presented in Crazy Canadian Trivia on the Bay of Fundy’s tides (the highest in the world) expands to include details on St. John New Brunswick’s Reversing Falls (which I have actually seen in person but without the knowledge that this phenomenon is actually caused by the Bay of Fundy tides affecting the St. John River).
Engagingly penned and with Pat Hancock thoroughly covering Canada from coast to coast, from West to East and North to South, Crazy Canadian Trivia is both entertaining and educational and suitable for readers from about the age of about nine or ten onwards (and in my opinion with no upper limit, as Crazy Canadian Trivia should also be enjoyable as well as educational for adults). And indeed, the only reason why my rating for Crazy Canadian Trivia is three and not four stars is that for one, the absence of secondary sources (with no notes and no bibliography) is in my opinion a huge academic shortcoming and that for two, I do not really appreciate Pat Hancock titling this book Crazy Canadian Trivia. For while some of the featured Canadiana is definitely strange enough to warrant being labelled as somewhat crazy (like that ridiculous but true story of Ontario groundhog Wiarton Willie needing protective police custody after receiving death threats) the majority of the information is basically just fun facts, and therefore, I for one really do wish that Pam Hancock had called her Crazy Canadian Trivia something else, something for example like Fun and Interesting Canadian Trivia.
For example, I certainly was totally unaware of the fact that it was Canadian writer Leslie McFarlane who wrote the famous Hardy Boys children’s mysteries under the pseudonym of Franklin W. Dixon (and that he was also contractionally forbidden by his employer to mention this to anyone, even to his own family). And while I am more than well aware of the fact that Canada is internationally renowned for its covered bridges and that the covered bridge in Hartland, New Brunswick is considered to be the longest covered bridge in the world, I actually did not know that according to Crazy Canadian Trivia and Pat Hancock’s presented text, according to her featured information, covered bridges are often called kissing bridges because in bygone days, courting couples used to smootch on covered bridges to keep their romances away and secret from spying and gossiping neighbours (and potentially disapproving family members), not to mention that the information presented in Crazy Canadian Trivia on the Bay of Fundy’s tides (the highest in the world) expands to include details on St. John New Brunswick’s Reversing Falls (which I have actually seen in person but without the knowledge that this phenomenon is actually caused by the Bay of Fundy tides affecting the St. John River).
Engagingly penned and with Pat Hancock thoroughly covering Canada from coast to coast, from West to East and North to South, Crazy Canadian Trivia is both entertaining and educational and suitable for readers from about the age of about nine or ten onwards (and in my opinion with no upper limit, as Crazy Canadian Trivia should also be enjoyable as well as educational for adults). And indeed, the only reason why my rating for Crazy Canadian Trivia is three and not four stars is that for one, the absence of secondary sources (with no notes and no bibliography) is in my opinion a huge academic shortcoming and that for two, I do not really appreciate Pat Hancock titling this book Crazy Canadian Trivia. For while some of the featured Canadiana is definitely strange enough to warrant being labelled as somewhat crazy (like that ridiculous but true story of Ontario groundhog Wiarton Willie needing protective police custody after receiving death threats) the majority of the information is basically just fun facts, and therefore, I for one really do wish that Pam Hancock had called her Crazy Canadian Trivia something else, something for example like Fun and Interesting Canadian Trivia.
July 19, 2014
I have gathered a hearty variety of Canadian literature, including non-fiction like this. I loved every inch of “Crazy Canadian Trivia”, 2000! Its appeal surpassed “You Can’t Do That In Canada!” because that centered on laws, many of which fell into disuse. Pat Hancock’s treatise is an education that overwhelmed me with pride. It stirred a satisfaction I didn’t expect. Its all-encompassing nature presents itself as history and is in concert, factual. Origins, inventions, people.... these don’t cease to be valid information and are thus, worth learning. I came away feeling not that this was trivia but that I have been enriched by an on-going tableau of who we are.
There are fun tidbits, like sites of the largest inanimate objects and odd contests. I basked in the coverage of special Canadians, locations, and memorable events. It was very timely to read for instance, that ice once stopped Niagara Falls from flowing. On the following day, I started a Howard Engel mystery novel in which this phenomenon was discussed! Knowing this history instantly came in handy. My favourite item, although I knew it, is that the original “Hardy Boys” author is Canada’s Leslie McFarlane. What did surprise me is that his family was unaware he held the infamous alias and success.... for fifty years!
These snippets are neatly organized into similar stories, despite flitting through a large array of subjects. I love the personal notation, that years of storing articles and oddball details, were vindicated by publishing this! A desire to teach and share is common to both trivia compilers, including Bev Spencer. This book especially, I recommend enthusiastically to everybody: any Canadians and people of other nations who need to learn a great deal more about us. This is a broad tour in short doses that is easily remembered.
There are fun tidbits, like sites of the largest inanimate objects and odd contests. I basked in the coverage of special Canadians, locations, and memorable events. It was very timely to read for instance, that ice once stopped Niagara Falls from flowing. On the following day, I started a Howard Engel mystery novel in which this phenomenon was discussed! Knowing this history instantly came in handy. My favourite item, although I knew it, is that the original “Hardy Boys” author is Canada’s Leslie McFarlane. What did surprise me is that his family was unaware he held the infamous alias and success.... for fifty years!
These snippets are neatly organized into similar stories, despite flitting through a large array of subjects. I love the personal notation, that years of storing articles and oddball details, were vindicated by publishing this! A desire to teach and share is common to both trivia compilers, including Bev Spencer. This book especially, I recommend enthusiastically to everybody: any Canadians and people of other nations who need to learn a great deal more about us. This is a broad tour in short doses that is easily remembered.
February 14, 2021
It's really Interesting. I learnt a lot about Canada from it.
Cover
This cover may seem strange. A flamingo standing among Canadian Geese but it actually is a reference to a story in the book. The way it was written actually makes this cover even more comical.
Interior
Story
How on earth. Some of these facts are really bizarre. Never thought we invented bowling, or most of the other strange facts. There are so many it's a bit dizzying but all so interesting. I really enjoyed reading it. A couple of facts I actually did know about. Over all it's just a interesting enjoyable book to read.
Illustrations
I loved the humor in the illustrations. It’s really fun, playful, and does add to the story.
Cover
This cover may seem strange. A flamingo standing among Canadian Geese but it actually is a reference to a story in the book. The way it was written actually makes this cover even more comical.
Interior
Story
How on earth. Some of these facts are really bizarre. Never thought we invented bowling, or most of the other strange facts. There are so many it's a bit dizzying but all so interesting. I really enjoyed reading it. A couple of facts I actually did know about. Over all it's just a interesting enjoyable book to read.
Illustrations
I loved the humor in the illustrations. It’s really fun, playful, and does add to the story.
November 18, 2024
You might know that Canada is home to the world's longest covered bridge, but did you know that here you will also find the world's biggest axe, lobster, and pysanka egg? From inventions like Trivial Pursuit to sports like baseball, from wonders of nature to natural disasters, this book has some of the wildest facts about our country. World records, odd laws and customs, and strange stories abound. Bet you had no idea what an interesting (and crazy!) country we live in! With upbeat, humorous illustrations, and photographs to prove that tourists really do have to come here to see the biggest and strangest things, this book will appeal to anyone interested in a fascinating new look at Canada. Canada.
June 30, 2026
Loved all of the cooky,weird,random facts in there.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews