Tag Kate Hale

Return to Factopia!

jillrbennett Leave a comment

Return to Factopia!
Kate Hale, illustrated by Andy Smith
Britannica Books

This second book in the series that invites readers to choose their own paths is every bit as much fun as the first. Again it’s bursting with informative tidbits (more than 400 facts in all) relating to such diverse topics as libraries, lions and loud things, bees to blood and bananas, and morning to musical instruments (of the unusual kind of course). Did you know that certain bumblebees bite plants’ leaves to speed up the flowering process? I certainly didn’t.

Astonishingly, bananas are naturally radioactive? (You’d need to consume at least a billion in a single meal to receive a lethal dose though.)

Equally weird is that a species of ancient whale had four legs and webbed feet, and that scientists are able to tell the age of a whale from its earwax. I’d love to know how that’s done. Those are just a couple of the weird and wonderful things you can discover about various kinds of whales herein.
Equally astonishing and astounding is that ants have been around since the time of dinosaurs; perhaps even more amazing is that certain fungi are able to control the minds of ants, turning them into zombified insects.

No matter whether you decide to follow a jumpy trail, or read straight through, one thing is certain, you’ll put the book down knowing a multitude of things you hadn’t even thought about before.
Easy to read and engagingly illustrated in a variety of styles by Andy Smith, this clever web of information will assuredly bind you in.

FACTopia!

jillrbennett Leave a comment

FACTopia!
Kate Hale, illustrated by Andy Smith
Britannica Books

Surprising and sometimes humorous are the connections between the four hundred statements found within this cornucopia of facts collected by Kate Hale.

With my love of chocolate, and that large tower spanning the gutter of the book, how could I resist savouring first the information on that spread. I was surprised to read that ‘The world’s largest chocolate bar weighed 2,696 kg’ – about the same weight as four male polar bears.” Wow! Now that would take some eating. However with my vegan sensibilities I was horrified to learn that ‘the average chocolate bar contains some tiny insect fragments’. Where do they come from?

I hastily left the chocolate page and turned instead to the linked spread where I was met with a gaping mouth in the process of consuming birthday cakes and discovered that a world record was set by a man who consumed 6.6kg of birthday cake in eight minutes; I assume he didn’t eat the candles as well. That surely must have stopped him having ‘borborygmi’. I have to admit I had to check up the meaning of this word just to make sure it wasn’t a joke but sure enough it is ‘the rumbling sounds made by a body when hungry’.

As somebody who loves to travel I was fascinated to read about the Potato Hotel in Idaho where the rooms are contained within a gigantic replica of a potato, while in India, the country’s fisheries HQ building is fish-shaped.

There is actually some kind of linking thread running right through this entire book but there is more than one trail through the wealth of facts included so divergent thinkers can choose to follow their own path, or even just dip in and out enjoying the range of topics covered from babies to breakfast and popcorn to pets and pirates.
Andy Smith’s 300+ illustrations are huge fun and add to the enjoyment of this collection of facts for curious children (and the occasional adult I suspect).