Ripley's Believe It or Not Special Edition 2004 [Hardcover]

Mary Packard (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Series: Ripley's Believe It Or Not

Just in time for the holidays! The 2nd annual collection of the grossest, strangest, and most unbelievable facts, acts, and oddities ever recorded--it's Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Ripley's Believe it Or Not! ® 2004 is filled with hundreds of the latest fab facts, amazing acts, obscure oddities and much, much more...This must-have for collectors comes complete w/ full-color photos and Robert Ripley's original cartoons.

· Did you know that in Santa Ana, California it's against the law to swim on dry land?
· Have you heard about the seven acrobats who survived a major accident by jumping through the windows of their bus before it went over a cliff?
· Has anyone told you that the human body is worth about $4.50 cents?
Sound too crazy to be true? Believe it or Not! ®

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Believe it or not, Robert Ripley enjoyed being called a liar. "I don't blame anyone for thinking me one, because there's nothing stranger than the truth." And in this special edition of seemingly unbelievable stories, the king of oddities lives on with contemporary and classic lore. Ready for this? In New Mexico, when an election race is too close to call, the candidates play poker to determine the winner. This happened as recently as 1999. You'll also read about a real-life Tarzan--a boy who lived from age 2 to 6 with a family of monkeys; discover the bizarre coincidences that linked U.S. presidents Lincoln and Kennedy; and marvel at the flight attendant who survived being thrown 33,000 feet to the ground after the plane she was in exploded. Trivia hounds and curious readers of all ages will be mesmerized by this collection of more than 700 weird nuggets, organized under such chapter headings as "The Sporting Life," "Out of the Odd-inary," "Home, Hearth & Peculiar Places," and "Downright Spooky." Biographical information about the folksy Ripley is also included. (Ages 8 and older) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.; Special edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439465532
• ISBN-13: 978-0439465533
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #856,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Amazing, Unbelievable Ripley's, May 13, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Ripley's Believe It or Not! Special Edition (Hardcover)

Ripley's Believe It or Not is a great bok. It contains many interesting facts, which will leave you in shock and disbelief. I thought Ripley's Believe It or Not was awesome. I had a lot of fun reading the book and I learned many amazing facts. Based on the T.V hit show, Ripley's Believe It or Not is mind-boggeling. Many people think that it is the same as Guiness Book of Records, but it is not. Ripley's Believe It or Not tells you amazing facts and you decide whether it is true or not. None of the facts in Ripley's are in the Guiness Book of Records.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review By X S C, January 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Ripley's Believe It or Not Special Edition 2004 (Hardcover)

I am a fifth grader from P.S. 42. Many people in our class have read Ripley's Believe It or Not Special Edition 2004. Some say this book is very cool and some say it is not. Well, I say its very interesting because of the pictures and the descriptions. Believe It or Not Special Edition 2004 tells the weird facts that all people are interested in reading. Someone fell 20-stories from Liberty Bank Building in Buffalo, New York and he survived! Most people would be flat from a 20-story fall but this guy didn't. Even people survived in extreme cold by burning their money! I think most boys in my class wanted to read it because of the pictures or because it's a new book. Is there somebody with a magnetic body? Or is there a reptile man? You'll know when you read "Ripley's Believe It or Not Special Edition 2004!" You'll be amazed by the stories they tell you!!

I really enjoyed this book for a few reasons. This book tells the truth. Most people always hide their ugly side. But in this book, a person with three legs tell other people he has three legs. Isn't he embarrassed? Well, maybe he is embarrassed. Probably not.

I think children below 6 shouldn't read this ( 7 and above could). When children under 6 read this book, they might get nightmares about the disgusting pictures in the book. If they really wanted to read this book, they could but if they read it and get nightmares, it's their fault.

In this book, there are too many facts so I'll just ask a few question: Did the man with a metal pole in his chest live after the pole went in? How about the dolphin who spoke? How did the camper know he had a snake in his body?

People in our class, mostly girls think that some of the pictures are disgusting. On page 29 of the book, there are skulls. Skulls are disgusting to look at. Also when you look at the skulls, it looks like its smiling at you. Anyway, I really liked this book and it should be for children who are disgusting. I have one of the Ripley's Believe It or Not books and their facts are really cool for boys. So go to a book store and see if you can get your hands on this fabulous book! But if you don't like this book, you could go to Amazon.com and tell them your opinion about the book.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There are SO many strange things inside this book!, January 2, 2005

By 

Robin Goodfellow (Land of the Fairies) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ripley's Special Edition 2005 (pob) (Ripley's Believe It Or Not) (Hardcover)

You got it folks. The RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT 2005 SPECIAL EDITION book. That's right. There's nothing stranger than the truth when you read this. It's all real. Just like any other "Ripley's" book, there are animals doing amazing things, people with nothing better to do then to decorate of their possessions in a wacky way, people doing things to themselves, and from everything from entertainment to fun to just plain weird, this is a wonderful piece of literature. Also visit the museums! They're not bad at all.