Ripley's Believe It or Not- Enter if You Dare!

Ripley's Believe It or Not- Enter if You Dare! (August 12, 2010) is a wonderfully diverse showcase of the disturbing, the bizarre, the sometimes gross, and the sometimes just pleasantly fascinating. It is just the sort of book to leave around the living room, to dip into when time allows and to be amazed (too overwhelming to curl up with, but just right for snacking), and an excellent book to give to your ten year old, so that you can have the pleasure of watching him do the same.

Of special interest to fans of the paranormal is a large vampire spread, that features a four page (I just learned that this is called a "gatefold") picture of a vampire hunter's kit, with all the paraphernalia therein explained in side-bars. I was very pleased to see our own Rhode Island vampire, poor Mercy Brown, included! But even more fascinating, to me at least, was the generous section on unbelievable art. I am rather tempted to make a gummi bear chandelier of my own....and who knew that toilet paper was so versatile?

And more fascinating to my son was the amazing science section, in particular the "mad inventions" section. Many of the tidbits of information contained therein have become very familiar to the rest of us, thanks to his word for word regurgitation! There's a very considerable amount of non-fiction here-- in particular, I appreciated that the "Ripley Research" boxes explained the science behind the fantastic. Here's a sample double page spread:


Like all the Ripley's books, this is a lavishly illustrated, fact-filled feast of the fantastic! (although the cover might scare your younger child and he might ask you to hide it).

(disclaimer: review copy received from publisher)

The Non-Fiction Monday Round-up is at Shelf-Employed today!