Review: The Handy Answer Book for Kids (and Parents) 2nd Edition

Published by: Visible Ink Press

ISBN: 9781578592197

Published October 2009

352 pages in color

100 photos and illustrations

6.8 x 9.7 paperback


Recommended for: everyone!

My rating: 5/5

My thoughts:

Whether you are a parent or not, this book is a great reference book to have handy. Answers to almost 800 different questions are provided in a very simple manner. The book itself is beautiful, almost every other page contains a colourful picture on thick, glossy paper. I'm still in awe as I flip through the book.

The book is broken down into 10 sections:

• Outer Space
• Planet Earth & Our Moon
• Creatures Big & Small
• Plant Life
• People Around the World
• Politics & Government
• How Things Work
• Math, Measurement & Time
• All About My Body
• Daily Life

As soon as the book arrived, both my husband and 7 yr old son grabbed it & started flipping through it. It was really fun watching them point to the different topics & learning new things together. For instance, many of us know that you can tell the age of a tree by counting the rings BUT did you know that the thickness of the rings also tell scientists what the climate was like that year (ie. thick rings means there was plenty of rainfall)? It seems common sense to me now that I know, but this was not something I had thought of before!

Here are a few examples of questions in the book that I've been asked or expect to be asked one day:

• Why is the sky blue?
• What is a fossil?
• Why do flies like cow plop?
• How did my life begin?

I know my son will start asking me tougher questions & I am so happy to have a quick guide (other than Google) to help me! Some answers I already know (i.e why do zebras have stripes? camouflage) but thankfully the books adds more details then just my one word answer. I recommend this book for everyone as I think it's such a fun, fact filled book covering basic topics everyone should know.

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