Don't Know Much About Planet Earth [Paperback]

Kenneth C. Davis (Author), Tom Bloom (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Don't Know Much About

• Do sleeping volcanoes snore? (see page 12)
• Is the Dead Sea dead? (see page 21)
• How icy is Iceland? (see page 78)

Join best-selling author Kenneth C. Davis on an entertaining trek across the globe as he answers some big questions about the world in the amusing style that has won millions of readers.

With fascinating anecdotes about the world's most unusual places and notable quotes from world travelers throughout history, Davis leads you to the longest river, coldest desert, tallest waterfall, most powerful volcanic eruption, and much more. Humorous illustrations and amazing stories make the "boring" facts of geography come to life as you read about Marco Polo's adventures in China and discover that people in Latin America speak Spanish and Portuguese -- not Latin at all!

Kenneth C. Davis brings the verve of his popular best-seller Don't Know Much About® Geography to a new audience. He makes it fun to learn more about this incredible planet we call home.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

How's this for a novel concept: geography is not just about naming a country's major exports, memorizing the names of the continents, or finding the Sahara Desert on a map. According to Kenneth C. Davis, author of the bestselling Don't Know Much About History, as well as the fun new Don't Know Much About series for kids, geography is about "knowing where we are, how we got there, and where we might be going." In Don't Know Much About Planet Earth, readers become explorers, discovering remarkable, far-off places, meeting fascinating people, and finding answers to questions they might not have known they even had. Following several chapters about Earth, deserts, earthquakes, maps, tropical rainforests, etc., come chapters on each of the seven continents. Packed chock-full of fascinating facts, every page is sure to make readers begin to think more deeply about the world around them. A lively question-and-answer format explains why maps of the world will always, always be wrong. Find out if there is enough food to feed the world, why Earth looks mostly blue from outer space, and why Australia is home to such unusual animals. Illustrator Tom Bloom's cartoon-style drawings are an entertaining accompaniment to Davis' upbeat, up-to-date text.

Don't know much about anything? You will soon. Other titles in this amusing and enlightening series for kids include Don't Know Much About the 50 States, Don't Know Much About Space, and Don't Know Much About the Solar System. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Davis, author of the bestselling Don't Know Much About... series for adults, is known for his light writing tone and thorough yet accessible explanations of complex topics. He recently created two new books for children inspired by some of his popular works for adults, which in turn were captured on audio. Science is far from dull on these solid recordings that explore geography and astronomy. Wyman authoritatively presents fun facts and anecdotes with a lively, almost gee-whiz air. ("Is the solar system as old as the universe? Nope. Our Sun and planets are only middle aged compared to the universe. Five billion years ago, the solar system was a huge, cold, spinning cloud of dust and gas...."). The material's q&a format (children read the questions and Wyman reads the answers), complete with several fast-paced "true/false" and "pop quiz" segments keep things rolling along and keep listeners hooked, at least for a while. Because of the sheer volume of information presented here, these programs are likely to be more easily digested in small portions. But no listener will walk away from these titles without several factoids that will not only help with school subjects but will sound impressive when repeated. Ages 8-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (July 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064408345
• ISBN-13: 978-0064408349
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #387,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #58 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Reference & Nonfiction > Politics & Government

More About the Author

Ken Davis is the author of Don't Know Much About History, which spent 35 consecutive weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, and gave rise to the Don't Know Much About series, which has a combined in-print total of 4.3-million copies.Ken Davis has been dubbed The King of Knowing by Amazon.com because he becomes a subject expert in all of the areas he writes about; the Bible, Mythology, the Universe, the Civil War, for example. Ken has also been a Wise Man; on Who Wants to be a SuperMillionaire and a Life Line on the regular edition of the show. Ken Davis's success aptly makes the case that Americans don't hate history, just the dull version they slept through in class. But many of them want to know now because their kids are asking them questions they can't answer. Davis's approach is to refresh us on the subjects we should have learned in school. He does it by busting myths, setting the record straight and always remembering that fun is not a four-word letter word. A somewhat well-kept secret: Ken Davis never graduated from college, but he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Concordia College in Bronxville, where he was also asked to give a commencement address. Ken Davis is a frequent media guest. He has appeared on hundreds of television and radio shows, including NPR, The Today Show, Fox and Friends, CNN, and The Discovery Channel. He has been a commentator for All Things Considered, and has written for the New York Times. In addition to his adult titles, he writes the Don't Know Much About Children's series published by HarperCollins. He lives in New York with his wife. They have two grown children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INTERESTING! OPENS YOUR EYES TO THE OTHER LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT OUT PLANET, September 28, 2008

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Iron Man "JON" - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Don't Know Much About Planet Earth (Paperback)

I bought this book mainly just to fine-tune (and enhance a little bit) my knowledge about our planet. I love to watch documentary films about nature and how it works. This book is a kind of supplement to watching those films and will give you some insights of a lot of the things you know about the earth and some of the things you thought you know about the earth. It is a good book to introduce to grade-school kids where they are just forming an opinion about nature. It reinforces their knowledge and understanding of how important our planet is. I highly recommend this book.