Kid Konnection: Time For Kids Book Fun

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you two fun books for kids from Time For Kids.

Summary: Here's a trivia quiz for you: What are the five most popular names for dogs? Which five nations spend the most on chocolate per year? What are the five oldest baseball stadiums? Who were the five youngest Presidents? The answers to those questions-and dozens more-are found in the Time For Kids Top 5. Filled with fascinating trivia and kid-appealing lists, this book is based on Time For Kids' most popular feature: the TFK Top 5. And just as in the magazine version, the lists have amusing and colorful illustrations accompanied by information at a glance. Topics include animals, sports, technology, food, people, and entertainment. Each Top 5 list has guaranteed kid and parent appeal and is certain to surprise young readers who will refer to the book over and over. -- Time for Kids

What kid doesn't like books with lists? I know I did when I was young. And if I'm being entirely honest, I still like lists -- both making them and reading them! TOP 5 OF EVERYTHING: TALLEST, TASTIEST, FASTEST! by Time for Kids is a brand new addition to our home library, and we agree that it's a winner.

TOP 5 OF EVERYTHING is truly a lot of fun. It's a small softcover book that provides all sorts of top 5 lists. Some of the topics included are roller coasters, sports, geography, people, and other interesting tidbits. Of course, Booking Son was drawn to the ones associated with sports, but many of the lists in this book captured his attention.

I wanted to share with you a little idea of the variety of lists in this book:

Top 5 Cereals with the Most Sugar
1. Kellogg’s Honey Smacks
2. Post Golden Crisp
3. Kellogg’s Froot Loops Marshmallow
4. Quaker Oats Cap’n Crunch’s Oops!
5. Quaker Oats Original Cap’n Crunch

Top 5 Longest Snakes
1. Reticulated Python
2. Green Anaconda
3. Indian Python
4. Diamond Python
5. King Cobra

Tallest Mountains in the United States
1. Mt. McKinley
2. Mt. St. Elias
3. Mt. Foraker
4. Mt. Bona
5. Mt. Blackburn

As a mother, I really enjoyed TOP 5 OF EVERYTHING. Needless to say, I learned some fun trivia about a wide assortment of things, but I also appreciated that this book will appeal to all types of readers. Not only are some of the lists just plain fun like Top 5 Halloween Costumes for Kids (there's another list for Pets!), but there are also lists that provide educational information. For instance, there are lists for national parks, rain forests, animals, and more!

I knew when I was skimming through this book that I would be reading and re-reading it with my son. By that, I mean he will read it out loud to me as he discovers some interesting facts. He just loves to share what he learns and TOP 5 OF EVERYTHING offers many minutes of learning fun!

Summary: TIME For Kids The NEW BIG Book of Why Crazy, Cool & Outrageous answers the questions that kids commonly ask and adults can rarely answer. Why are our eyes different colors? Why do we put candles on a birthday cake? Why do we high five our friends? Why do elephants have big ears? Packed with hundreds of new brain busting questions with easy to understand answers that made the first Big Book of Why a best seller. The book is divided by subject area - humans, animals, environment/nature, technology and space - and written in an upbeat manner, each answer is accompanied by either a photo or an illustration to show the reasons why. TIME For Kids The NEW BIG Book of Why Crazy, Cool & Outrageous is a must-have book to satisfy the most curious of kids. Kids will be desperate to share what they've learned with their parents, teachers, and friends...and anyone else who will listen! -- Time for Kids

Next up is the BIG BOOK OF WHY: CRAZY, COOL, & OUTRAGEOUS! This hardcover book contains more than 1,000 fascinating facts about things kids want to know. The book is divided by subject matter and includes the human body, animals, nature, the Earth, space, science, technology, transportation, U.S. and world history, world culture, arts and media, and sports and games.

BIG BOOK OF WHY was another hit in our house! It's one of those books that just geared towards kids and makes reading fun. The colors and photographs are very eye-catching, and there is a lot of information about a variety of subjects on each page. I can guarantee that even reluctant readers will want to take a peek at this book.

I adored this book and consider it kind of a fun encyclopedia. The topics covered are both interesting and educational, but I also like how the information was presented. They answers to these questions are short and to-the-point, and even better, they are easy to understand. In addition to the questions and answers, the book also has some "cool" and "outrageous" facts thrown in!

I can't even begin to cover the amount of information offered in BIG BOOK OF WHY, so I'll just give you a few examples of the questions.

Q: Why are tropical fish so colorful?
A: Scientist believe bright colors can serve as camouflage for tropical fish, and can help them attract mates. Sometimes poisonous fish use their bright colors to warn away would-be predators. Another theory is that reef fish see more colors than humans can, so they have to be colorful to be recognized.

Q: Why do male lions roar?
A: For lions, roaring is like talking. Different sounds can express different things. Male lions roar to claim their territory, as if to say "This place is mine!" Sometimes they roar to call lionesses. Roars can be heard for miles, which is helpful since lions often live in large, flat areas.

Q: Why were U.S. soldiers called G.I.s?
A: During World War II, anything the U.S. government made -- from shoes to guns to chocolate -- was known as "government issue," or "G.I." Some American soldiers played off the term and unofficially called themselves G.I.s. Later, G.I. Joe soldier dolls became one of the most popular toys in the country.

I really think Time for Kids is on to something with these two books. Booking Son can't get enough of the lists, explanations, and pictures that these books offer. Highly recommended for home and school!

Thanks Goodman Media International for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!