“Time For Kids: That’s Strange But True!”; c.2012, Time Home Entertainment; $19.95 / $21.95 Canada; 176 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Your friends all think you’re weird.

And maybe they have a point. You love knowing about eerie things, you can’t get enough oddness, and anything that’s disgusting is pretty cool in your book. If something’s very different, you want to see it as soon as possible… which is kinda weird.

And you know what else? You really like things that way. Still, your friends might be interested to know that there are a lot of things weirder than you. Find out about them in “Time For Kids: That’s Strange But True!”

You might not realize this, but oddness lies practically outside your door.

Take animals, for instance. Dogs and cats have been known to travel alone for hundreds of miles in search of their families. Pigeons can recognize faces. Bees are great at math. Other animals are bionic, some are great at not being found, and some have recently been found by scientists who were surprised at their new discoveries!

Terri Schlichenmeyer

It’s probably not so strange when Mom tells you to clean up your room, but think of it as a treasure hunt. Then, think about a real treasure hunt like the ones you’ll find in this book: go to Atlantis, look for El Dorado , find the Lost Continent of Mu and you might be in the mu-ney. Search for gold in Nevada , look for “pay dirt” in Arizona , or go diving for one of 3 million wrecked and sunken ships.

If you’re a kid who loves to make up weird games, this book’s got you covered. Learn about bossaball. Find out about extreme ironing, or see how many jalapeño peppers you’d have to eat to break the World Record.

There are very odd inventions in this book that do some not-so-odd jobs. Check out the interactive mirror and the 3-D touch screen. Find out about a drown-proof surfer suit and germ-free shirts. Then take a peek at some awesome architecture and artwork that is totally, usefully cool.

And then think about this: someday, you’ll have to grow up and get a job. Here’s where the weird comes in: you could be a professional whistler. Get paid for pushing people. Write fortune-cookie fortunes. Let mosquitoes bite you. And then, thank your lucky stars you weren’t a “fuller” in ancient Rome . Their jobs were stranger than strange!

No doubt about it, kids love knowing things that you don’t know. So when you watch them devour what’s inside “Time For Kids: That’s Strange But True!” you know you’ve got a hit on your hands.

Loosely grouped into fourteen chapters, this book is a feast for fact-fiends. Your child will learn about wacky inventions and wild instruments. There are big babies in this book (21 feet tall, to be exact) and super-sized sheep. There’s icky food, tiny inventions, human pretzels, and tons more weirdness to appeal to kids ages 8-to-14.

The nicest thing about this book? You’ll enjoy reading it, too, so grab “Time For Kids: That’s Strange But True!” for your very own. Anything less is too weird to contemplate.

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Terri has been reading since she was 3 years old and she never goes anywhere without a book. She lives on a hill in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books.