501 Fun Facts

James Buckney (author)

Scholastic Australia, July 2011: 212pp

ISBN: 9781741696837

Genres: factual text, non-fiction

Who was the first person to discover Australia? (Probably not who you think!) Can you name the world's busiest airports? Do you know the secrets to building a sandcastle successfully? Can you name some words that have only recently made it into an English language dictionary?

Answers to these and many more questions are provided in this book of 'fun facts, amazing lists and nearly everything you need to know'. Printed in purple on pale green and white, this is a book designed to be attract readers who find text-heavy pages off-putting. The single-page lists often used boldface and/or large font, calculated to grab the attention of readers just flipping through and entice them to read a little more. Cartoon-style graphics add impact and humour to many pages. The content is divided into sections – history, social studies, world and weather, science, words, pop culture, animals, food, sports, grab bag – that make dipping into interest areas very easy.

Definitely a text that is going to interest collectors of minutiae, this is going to be a popular title amongst reluctant readers and those who prefer facts to fiction.