101 Things You Need To Know (… and Some You Don't!)

This book consists of 101 spreads, each just over A5 in size, divided into Nature, Science, The Universe, Animals, The Human Body, History, How Do You..., Weird and Miscellaneous. They range from ‘Why is our blood red?’, ‘How do clouds stay up?’ and ‘How did the ancient Egyptians make the Pyramids?’ to ‘Who is the richest person in the world?’, ‘What makes farts so smelly?’ and ‘Is your teacher an alien?’. Each spread includes a Form to fill in, which generally entails answering a quiz (answers at the back of the book), or giving a short account of the reader’s personal experience.

Regrettably, that part of the text within this reviewer’s competence is littered with errors and careless editing: Andromeda is not the nearest galaxy to ours (spread 12) and a line of nine double-decker buses is about 90 metres long, not 30 (spread 18), to give only two examples.