The Childrens Miscellany

Do you know . . . . . . how to milk a cow? . . . the symptoms of a venomous spider's bite? . . . where to find the fastest rollercoasters? You won't find such an eclectic collection of fascinating facts anywhere else. Whether you want to know how to beat an alligator in a fight, ways to speak in secret code, which insects are edible, or what the heck scolionophobia means, this is the book for readers both young and old.

Do you know... ...how to hypnotize a chicken? ...why the sky is blue? ...which animals are most commonly named "Jaws"? ...how to make invisible ink? ...where to find the town of Ding Dong? ...how to turn your watch into a compass? ...what you get when you cross a vampire and a snowman? Find out, in this essential collection of the smart, the silly, and the strange. You won't find such a collection of bizarre knowledge and fascinating facts anywhere else. Whether you want to know how to talk to foreign animals, what to do if zombies attack, when to eat jellyfish, what a cryptid is, or how to be a phrenologist, this book is for you.

The sequel to the bestselling Children's Miscellany: Volume Two. Packed full of even more, even smarter, even stranger useless information.

A lavishly illustrated companion to The Bedside Book of Birds explores the relationships between predators and prey, drawing on mythology, nature writings, and other sources to provide coverage of both real and fictional creatures.

Perfect gift for book lovers, writers and your book club Book lovers rejoice! In this love letter to all things bookish, Jane Mount brings literary people, places, and things to life through her signature and vibrant illustrations. Readers of Jane Mount's Bibliophile will delight in: Touring the world's most beautiful bookstores Testing their knowledge of the written word with quizzes Finding their next great read in lovingly curated stacks of books Sampling the most famous fictional meals Peeking inside the workspaces of their favorite authors A source of endless inspiration, literary facts and recommendations: Bibliophile is pure bookish joy and sure to enchant book clubbers, English majors, poetry devotees, aspiring writers, and any and all who identify as book lovers. If you have read or own: I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life; The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, and Civilization; or How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines; then you will want to read and own Jane Mount's Bibliophile.

Packed with fascinating facts, Literary Miscellany is sure to please both professor and pleasure reader alike. Wouldn’t it be great to be a fly on the wall as the great writers took pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard)? While reading this work, you’ll be just that. Here are behind-the-book stories and facts about authors, publishing and everything literary that will entertain both casual and serious readers. Among the questions asked and answered: • When Did Literature Finally Get Sexy? • Is Coffee or Opium Better for Literary Creativity? • Why Are the Best Autobiographies so Embarrassing? • Why Do Some Detectives Use Their Minds and Others Their Fists? Who knew that bestseller lists and children’s books could be the source of intense controversy? Or that even the biggest writers had to scrape by, with odd jobs and inventions like the Mark Twain Self-Pasting Scrapbook? In Literary Miscellany, examine the trend of “fake memoirs,” with a list of who lied about what, and a rogues’ gallery of hoaxers dating back centuries. From epic poetry and Homer to pulp fiction and Harry Potter, Literary Miscellany, now available for the first time in paperback, is a breezy tour through the literature of today and yesterday, packed with enough interesting facts to entertain both the erudite professor and pleasure reader.

This work presents the secrets of history, the animal kingdom, plants, planets, people and more.