“5,000 Awesome Facts (About Animals!) by National Geographic Kids, c.2022, National Geographic Kids, $19.99, 224 pages

“Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Escape the Ordinary,” Jordie R. Orlando, editor, c.2022, Ripley Publishing, $29.95, 256 pages

“Wait’ll you hear this!”

Ooooooh, that sentence promises a good time, doesn’t it? Something juicy, something too delicious to miss, a piece of gossip, or a fact you simply must know. Yep, and you’re about to be completely enlightened when you read these great trivia books.

Exactly how have you lived without “5,000 Awesome Facts (About Animals!) from National Geographic Kids? Seriously, this is a book you need if you love things furry, feathered, finned, and very fine. And don’t let the “kids” part fool you because, don’t adults need to know that polar bears roll in the snow to get clean? 

Animals inside, up north, in rainforests, on the sofa, even creepy critters get their due. Did you know, for instance, that a Komodo dragon can grow up to 300 pounds? What’s the difference between a crocodile and an alligator? Did you know that deer ticks feast just three times in their entire lives?

Or you could read about funky feathered friends (the record number of yolks in one chicken egg was nine yolks) or ones with fins (parrotfish can change gender, color, and shape at will). 

And then there are the animals that live with you. Catch this: dog spit prevents cavities better than does human saliva. Or this: a wet dog can shake the water from its coat in less than a second, and many songbirds are born naked. 

From animal intelligence to creatures that run, fly, swim, and slither, “5,000 Awesome Facts (About Animals!)” is a great book for any animal lover over the age of seven, but you don’t have to be a kid to love it.

If you’d like something a bit meatier and with more varied-length entries, look for “Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Escape the Ordinary.” 

Here, you’ll read about a man who collects face-shaped rocks. Learn what it takes to be a “professional crier.” Make plans to travel to Oregon’s Crater Lake to see “The Old Man of the Lake,” a log that floats upright and no one knows why. Catch a snapshot of a facial-hair-growing frog from China. Learn how a San Francisco woman turned a bobby pin into a roomy, comfortable home.

The articles you’ll find in this latest Ripley’s Believe It or Not! book are of differing lengths, which make it a perfect book to browse when you have a few minutes. It’s absolutely loaded with pictures, photos of real Ripley’s oddities, and plenty of jaw-droppers. Look close, and you’ll find inspiration, too, as well as new hobbies to try, weirdly appealing goals to set, and lots of entertainment for any reader, ages 16 to adult. 

If trivia and oddities are your thing and these two books aren’t enough to satisfy your cravings, be sure to check with your favorite librarian or bookseller. They know books and they know all kinds of trivia they can share, if you ask. In the meantime, find “Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Escape the Ordinary” and “5,000 Awesome Facts (About Animals!)”.