BOOK REVIEW: The Curious Guide to Things that Aren’t by John D. Fixx and James F. Fixx, illustrated by Abby Carter

BOOK REVIEW: The Curious Guide to Things that Aren’t by John D. Fixx and James F. Fixx, illustrated by Abby Carter

Walter Foster Jr.
November 2016
Hardcover, $17.99
Reviewed by Steph O’Connell

Juvenile Non-Fiction / Curiosities and Wonders

8/10

The Curious Guide to Things That Aren’t is a thought-provoking and engaging collection, featuring 26 thoughtful riddles, one for each letter of the alphabet, with clues to solve about intangible items such as air, breath, and jokes. It teaches creative thinking through deductive reasoning, listening skills, and imagination, and the clues on each page progress from challenging, more abstract clues to a simple, final clue that encourages the reader to turn the page to discover the answer. The book covers a broad range of themes, from science, language arts, social studies, math, music, and art. 

This is a great book to get kids started on the path of deductive reasoning, complete with engaging images which add another element to the reasoning exercises. Once the answer is revealed, the word is explored in more depth, with follow-up information as to how else the word might be used, the different things it can mean, and phrases where one might find said word.

The only issue one might run into is that, being such a short book, and owing to the nature of it, it doesn’t lend itself very well to re-reading. The lifespan of this title can be extended by sharing it with friends and family, but it does still have its limitations. Thankfully the publisher seems to have taken this into account, pricing it at only $17.99 in hardcover, and it is a gorgeous package besides, and after the first read through, there is a certain level of vicarious enjoyment to be found when seeing how quickly others can deduce the answers.

Category: Book Reviews, Other Reviews