Boggle
Philip Ardagh
Book of Absolutely Useless Lists
A brilliantly pick-upable book of lists, one for every day of the year, featuring all the things your brain never knew you needed to know; smelliest cheeses, animals which look like something else, items most commonly lost in launderettes, possessors of notable moustaches and much much more.
Macmillan · 9780330434171
Russell Ash
The Top 10 of Everything
Updated edition (2010) now available
The trivia buff's ultimate book of lists on everything imaginable, compiled by category, well-illustrated and with full colour photos. Where the Guinness Book of Records presents only one of something, this book offers a list of the 10 best, worst, biggest, weirdest… plenty here to pore over, memorise and amaze your friends with. Now featuring 'Then and Now' lists to prove how times change.
Hamlyn · 9780600617426
Russell Ash
Whitaker's World of Facts
Updated edition (2010) now available
A must-have for all fans of facts and figures, containing fact files, world records, lists and photographs on every subject imaginable. As entertaining as it is 'well I never knew that!' informative.
A & C Black · 9781408115060
Bill Bryson
A Really Short History of Nearly Everything
A mindboggling but very visual and highly accessible popular science book offering answers to all the questions you've ever wanted to ask, and some you've never even thought of, about the planet we live on. Bryson manages to cut through the controversy surrounding vast topics like evolution and the origins of the universe, making science fascinating and fun.
Doubleday · 9780385614801
Guinness
Guinness World Records
Updated edition (2010) now available
Containing over 1,500 new and updated records and contemporary categories such as highest computer games scores and most downloaded podcast, this is still the ultimate trivia guide and works hard to stay ahead of the rest. With 100% new photographs, illustrative fold-outs, interactive spreads of records you can try yourself at home and new 3D graphics, this is definitely one all kids want to keep reading. No library, home, school or classroom can ever have enough copies.
Guinness · 9781904994497
Richard Horne
101 Things You Wish You'd Invented and Some You Wish No One Had
From inventions which changed the world like glass and the compass to the everyday ones we take for granted like pencils and underpants, this is a small format, big ideas book to dip in and out of and find something new every time.
Bloomsbury · 9780747591986
Jeremy Leslie
Pick Me Up Put Me Down
This highly visual, eye-catching encyclopedia for the internet generation answers all the questions you ever wanted to ask and the ones you haven't even thought of yet. Whether you pick a page, browse a category, follow a cross-reference or use the index this is exciting and addictive information finding.
Dorling Kindersley · 9781405332682
John Lloyd
The Book of General Ignorance
This compendium of curious trivia based on the TV series is a cut-above; genuinely engrossing, it not only sets out the fascinating facts but explains why they are true, putting right frequently held misconceptions in the most memorable ways. You can't help but be pulled in by the passion of the compilers for their material.
Faber · 9780571246922
Nicola Morgan
Know Your Brain
A fabulous and frequently funny book about your amazing brain, packed full of top tips for how to make it work better for you. Learn more about how your brain works, your preferred learning style and how to keep your brain fit and healthy. Featuring fun tests and quizzes and even a delicious recipe for brain cake, this is the kind of book to revolutionise your life.
Walker · 9781406304152
Glenn Murphy
How Loud Can You Burp?
Even more answers to extremely important questions asked by visitors to the Science Museum, following on from the success of Why Is Snot Green? This is a fun and refreshing look at the world we live in, revealing what is wetter than water, the differences between brains and computers, the deadliest diseases and much more besides.
Macmillan · 9780330454094
Mick O'Hare
Do Polar Bears Get Lonely?
This quirky little book contains the answers to some of life's most baffling questions. Taken from the Last Word column in New Scientist magazine, it is the third book in the series to offer a range of reader responses to some very tricky questions; everything from how they get the stripes in toothpaste to whether spiders ever get thirsty. Entertaining and informative.
Profile Books · 9781846681301
Jan Payne and Mike Phillips
The World's Best Book
Only the very best facts made it into this, The World's Best Book; stuffed full of the biggest and bravest, brainiest and brightest, the smelliest and shiniest and scariest... Perfect for fact-philes everywhere and with absolutely no boring bits allowed.
Buster Books · 9781906082291
Richard Porter
The Big Book of Top Gear
New edition (2010) now available
A behind-the-scenes look at the personalities, the challenges, the cars, the stunts and The Stig from the popular TV series. Cleverly thought-out and exceptionally well-produced this is 'just like Top Gear on the telly... except it's a book'. At long last the BBC has recognised the attraction of its Top Gear brand beyond the TV series and has now launched a whole series of books which can't fail to turn boys on to reading. You'll need to buy them all!
BBC Books · 9781846078248
Robert Le Roy Ripley
Ripley's Believe It or Not
Updated edition (2010) now available
An all-new, mind-boggling collection of the weirdest, wackiest and most wonderful individuals on the planet all with bizarre habits and hobbies. Superbly documented in full colour photographs, captions and snappy text box descriptions this is cool and quirky reading, easy to pick up, impossible to put down and which quickly acquires a huge fan base.
Random House · 9781847945853
Mitchell Symons
How Much Poo Does an Elephant Do?
A handy compendium of fascinating facts and totally useless trivia following on from How to Avoid A Wombat's Bum, randomly arranged in categories covering everything from the colour-blindness of squirrels to Walt Disney's fear of mice to the daily bug-eating habits of the average human. Simply written and made even more accessible with a huge variety of comic line drawings throughout, brains love hoovering up details like these.
Doubleday · 9781849410045
Various
Do Not Open
An irresistible and visually exciting encyclopedia of the world's best kept secrets, unsolved mysteries and most controversial theories. Find out the truth about crop circles, the Bermuda Triangle, the Golden Ratio, Fibonacci numbers and Jack the Ripper by navigating your own path through the pages and cross references. Easy to dip in and out of at leisure but informative enough to learn something from too.
Dorling Kindersley · 9781405322072
Various
Wow!
Described as the 'ultimate reference experience' DK take conventional encyclopedic categories but present the essential information in a series of unusual photographic galleries all explained in just the right amount of detail to engage and inform. Thoroughly-researched, mind-expanding and bursting with 'wow' factor.
Dorling Kindersley · 9781405322485
We Are What We Do
Teach Your Granny to Text and Other Ways to Change the World
This sequel to Change the World for a Fiver sets out 30 easy actions thought up by children themselves which are fun for everyone to do, will make the world a better place and bring about big change. Empowering reading and a great discussion-starter.
Walker · 9781406320718