The Encyclopaedia of Unbelievable Facts
Jane Wilsher and Louise Lockhart
Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

Many of us turn red in the face when feeling embarrassed but have you ever wondered about your insides? Embarrassment causes adrenaline to be produced and this helps increase blood flow, one consequence of which is that the stomach lining becomes red, so we blush both internally and externally.

Equally amazing is that our hair contains minute traces of gold, with babies having more than adults. Both are covered in the Human Body the opening part of this unusual encyclopaedia of trivia.

In case you’ve ever wondered what astronauts do with their dirty laundry, what happens to their wee, or what happens when an astronaut wants to scratch an itchy nose while wearing a space helmet, you’ll discover the answers along with those to over 45 more questions in the Space section of this book.

It’s not only STEM topics that are included herein though. There are sections entitled Customs & Culture, Our World and finally Arts & Entertainment. If you want to know Donald Duck’s middle name, you’ll find the answer there.

For each theme Louise Lockhart provides a wealth of offbeat, stylish illustrations, mostly small but some whole page ones too.

No matter whether you want to ask questions in a quiz with your friends or family, or just fancy dipping in to discover some new factual bits and pieces, then here’s a book for you; this reviewer certainly learned a fair bit.