Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot [Paperback]

Simon Eliot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 26, 2007

From weird science to pop culture, bodily functions to animal behavior, stuff to wonder aloud on a long car trip to what we never even bother to think about, let this hilarious, irreverent kid's-eye view of life teach you Everything You Need to Know About the World.
 
Do you know that tennis was invented by monks? What is the most dangerous crocodile on earth?  How do you say "fart" in Romanian? What does the word "pet" mean in French? (Hint: it smells like a rotten egg.) How many monarch butterflies fly from Canada to Mexico every year? What really happens to our bodies during puberty? How did the Foo Fighters get their name?
 
Welcome to the wacky, wonderful world of Simon Eliot
 
. . . a place where adults and curious kids alike can learn a few facts about things you never thought you knew, or thought you knew but were wrong, or were always afraid to ask.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—Simon Eliot presents his own world of facts, taking his inspiration from spiders and creating "a kind of cobweb of stuff." The child explains that most of the information was "found out on the Web," while "the rest…is a result of my own genius." What follows is a collection of odd facts, loosely organized into broad sections ("Intestinal Stuff," "Famous Journeys & Adventures," "Important Inventions," "Sweaty Stinky Stuff," etc.). The tidbits range from the comical ("'Dead from the neck up' means someone who's really stupid") to the practical ("Elephants are usually gentle giants, but if annoyed they will go into a blind trampling rage"). Many also deal with toilets and body functions. Scratchy pen-and-ink illustrations appear throughout, including a drawing of breasts to accompany an entry on Amazons "who each cut off their right breast so they could better draw their bow and arrow." Rest assured, if your patrons don't know the word "crap," they will after meeting Simon. He is from New Zealand, so his perspective and language might occasionally confuse American readers. While funny and interesting, this book is not a necessary purchase.—Sadie Mattox, DeKalb County Public Library, Decatur, GA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A very entertaining, absorbing…miscellany of really cool stuff...a rather amusing, unconventional compendium of factual trivia."
---Magpies magazine

 

"A mad and interesting miscellany of facts."
---New Zealand Post (a Children's Book Award finalist)

 

"Absolutely compelling."

---January Magazine

 

"Answers every question that any child has ever pondered in a funny and easy-to-read style. If you've ever wondered who invented the hamburger, or why spiders don't stick to their webs, or what 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' really means - this is the book for you."

---Northern Rivers Family Magazine

 

"A Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything for young readers. Funny and informative."

---The Sun Bookshop

 

"If you know a child who loves to ask questions - from the clever to the quirky - this is just the book. It will offer up a steady dose of humor and fascinating facts that will delight any child. What's more, the format makes it perfect for kids daunted by long chapters."

---Today's Parent Toronto

 

"Contains oodles of interesting facts and feats... Pack this one for long drives."

---M magazine, The Sunday Age

 

"Your kid will love it!"

---Single Parent Bible

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition edition (June 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312359659
• ISBN-13: 978-0312359652
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #696,614 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, July 29, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot (Paperback)

First off, this is a very hard book to categorize. Although non-fiction, this reference, encyclopedic, laugh-out-loud factual tome by the fictional Simon Eliot is instructional and funny - a feat not often accomplished! But if you're looking for obscure facts, outrageous data, and important info to make you look a whole lot smarter than you may actually be, then this is definitely the book for you!

Need to know when the first wedding in a public toilet took place? Simon can tell you it happened in Taiwan in 1996. Want to know how far monarch butterflies travel each year in their migration from Canada to Mexico? The answer is 1,864. Did you know that the first lawnmower was invented in 1830? It's true, and it's actually on display at the British Lawnmower Museum in Lancashire, UK.

These are only a few of the fun and outrageous facts you'll discover while reading EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WORLD BY SIMON ELIOT. Although there are no clearly defined categories to the book, every once in awhile you'll find a header such as "Intestinal Stuff," "Old Dudes You Need to Hear About," "Stuff to Impress Your Kid Brother and Sister With...," and "Things We Say Without Really Thinking About."

This book would be a welcome addition to any home library, and kids from five to five hundred will be hard pressed to not learn something new when reading it.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Read that Teaches You Stuff Too in a Format Never Done Before, September 13, 2007

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Everything You Need to Know About the World by Simon Eliot (Paperback)

The best educational books are fun to read as well. The beauty of this book and what differentiates it from its competitors is the way in which it is written. Facts are presented like a kid would talk to you. Complete with slang and the use of commonly said words (which politically correct publishers usually change fearing some moral extremist may consider them swear words and be offended). These things are why this great book works so well and a format which I dare say will be copied a lot in the future. This book can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. Inside you'll learn about a wide range of topics from explorers, science, what ingredients make up different junk foods, classic novels, the human body, who invented stuff, to the wind and other natural phenomena.

Other light read entertaining books that teach you stuff too are Dr Karl Kruszelnicki's Great Mythconceptions: The Science Behind the Myths, Q & A with Dr. K, Pigeon Poo, the Universe & Car Paint: And Other Awesome Science Moments and the rest of his books. Do Blue Bedsheets Bring Babies?: The Truth Behind Old Wives' Tales, Why Do Men Have Nipples? Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini, Shocking Science, So Gross (Over 100 Gross-Worthy Facts) are other great places to start.