Similar to Horrible Science, Horrible Geography, etc... but a little less horrible?

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Title says it all, really.  I'm not opposed to using these books because they are engaging, but I do feel like I'm going to have to pre-read them for appropriateness, which is a pain.  My reading list is getting about this tall (she says, holding hand above head)!  This is for an 8 year old mostly, but probably also an 11 year old.  I guess I could make the 11 year old pre-read them and report back...  

 

 

[Little Green Leaves]

What's horrible about them? and what's good about them? Just curious. I haven't read them and we don't have any. I googled and the covers make me think of the old Mad magazines. 

[Little Green Leaves]

8 minutes ago, square_25 said:

They are very snarky, lol. Not respectful, and sometimes they do have silly and potentially “inappropriate” content. Look at the Amazon reviews:

https://www.amazon.com/Bulging-Box-Books-Horrible-Science/dp/1407110357/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=horrible+science&qid=1596802400&sprefix=horrible+sc&sr=8-3
 

We have all of them, though — DD8 adores them and reads them over and over again.

 

The Amazon reviews are hilarious -- one is incredibly negative and the rest are glowing. I looked at the sample pages on their website and they look really good, though. 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I do think I'm letting the amazon reviews freak me out.  I'll maybe just read a couple and see how I feel about the tone and overall content.  My kids aren't typically ones to pick up bad habits from books or films, so probably ok.  

My extended family got SO UPSET when I sent my nephew some Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales books that included Donner Dinner Party.  My dad is a Donner party buff, and was absolutely appalled at the title.  😂  

[Little Green Leaves]

4 minutes ago, Monica_in_Switzerland said:

I do think I'm letting the amazon reviews freak me out.  I'll maybe just read a couple and see how I feel about the tone and overall content.  My kids aren't typically ones to pick up bad habits from books or films, so probably ok.  

My extended family got SO UPSET when I sent my nephew some Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales books that included Donner Dinner Party.  My dad is a Donner party buff, and was absolutely appalled at the title.  😂  

That makes sense. Read one ahead of time and take it from there. 

My extended family loves to get upset about all kinds of things. It's how they feel connected : ) 

[Little Green Leaves]

5 minutes ago, square_25 said:

We aren’t a very appropriate household, lol. Like, we aren’t religious, and we try not to curse toooo much in front of the kids. That might help understand our perspective, lol!

That about describes us too. I guess that's why the books don't look so horrible to me...but either way, reading one or two ahead of time sounds like it makes sense. And they look like they'd make really fast reads.

[ktgrok]

There are the "You wouldn't want to be a _________" picture books that teach a ton of history. Still sort of yucky, but not bad attitude stuff. 

[Miss Tick]

Having read parts of both, Horrible Histories are less horrible than the Donner Dinner Party. DH says they could have called them "Hilarious Histories", but they wouldn't have sold as well.

Edited August 7, 2020 by SusanC

[PeterPan]

No but I have a book if you want to go the other direction. 

Sppoky Campfire Stories https://www.amazon.com/Spooky-Campfire-Stories-Outdoor-Myths/dp/0762778040/ref=sr_1_1?crid=312EGOMFFWEQM&dchild=1&keywords=spooky+campfire+stories&qid=1596805605&sprefix=spooky+campfire%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-1 So creepy it had me SCREAMING in the hotel room in the middle of nowhere inMissouri where we bought it. 

Maybe there's a sanitized kid version? Hahaha

[Little Green Leaves]

13 minutes ago, square_25 said:

I have to admit, we didn’t pre-read them. I don’t have an 8 year old’s sense of humor, so it’s kinda tiresome to go through it.

I don't either, but I'm pretty sure my husband does. He was SO HAPPY when the kids fell in love with Dog Man.

[Little Green Leaves]

14 minutes ago, Ktgrok said:

There are the "You wouldn't want to be a _________" picture books that teach a ton of history. Still sort of yucky, but not bad attitude stuff. 

I really like those books. They're totally approachable and they do a really nice job making history real, at least the ones I've read. My daughter was very impressed by how hard Pilgrim kids had to work!

[wendyroo]

We LOVE all the Murderous Math and Horrible Histories here.

Make sure to browse Horrible Ray's site to see the full list of books available in all the series.  At this point we have purchased them ALL and do not regret them for even a minute.  (Buying from Horrible Ray's site is interesting - payment is on the honor system!! - but we have always had good experiences with him.)

Along a similar irreverent STEM theme are Randall Monroe's books.  Those are a big hit here.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, wendyroo said:

We LOVE all the Murderous Math and Horrible Histories here.

Make sure to browse Horrible Ray's site to see the full list of books available in all the series.  At this point we have purchased them ALL and do not regret them for even a minute.  (Buying from Horrible Ray's site is interesting - payment is on the honor system!! - but we have always had good experiences with him.)

Along a similar irreverent STEM theme are Randall Monroe's books.  Those are a big hit here.

Horrible Ray is a vendor at a conference we have gone to most summers. He is a hoot in person, too :). I'd e-mail him my list of books, he'd bring them with him, and I'd stuff them in my suitcase to take them home. It kind of felt like he was my AoPS/Galore Park/LoF/Horrible pusher or something :).

 

The "Does it Fart" series of animal science books are great-they came out of biology Twitter threads, and the originals are illustrated by one of DD's favorite webcomic artists (and salamander aquarists). The children's versions have more limited text and a different illustrator.  We've met Nick Caruso in person and chatted with Ethan and Dani online-and Ethan drew DD and her python a few years back :).

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Does-Fart-Definitive-Animal-Flatulence/dp/0316484156/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MLXZE8JK0TVR&dchild=1&keywords=does+it+fart+book&qid=1596822159&sprefix=Does+it+%2Caps%2C194&sr=8-1

 

DD really liked these, too. 

https://smile.amazon.com/How-They-Choked-Failures-Awfully/dp/1681192160/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1Z86QQ6M36ULU&dchild=1&keywords=how+they+croaked&qid=1596822234&sprefix=How+they+%2Caps%2C170&sr=8-2

[NataliaMusk]

My kids like these Science Comics. They're a lot less "horrible" but still fun. These Max Axiom comics are for science good too. 

[importswim]

On 8/7/2020 at 7:39 AM, square_25 said:

We aren’t a very appropriate household, lol. Like, we aren’t religious, and we try not to curse toooo much in front of the kids. That might help understand our perspective, lol!

We're a relatively appropriate household who are "religious" and don't curse much and we still love these books! LOL! I'm English, though, so probably has something to do with that sense of humor. 😄

[almondbutterandjelly]

History Dudes are fun.  I think they only have Vikings and Ancient Egyptians, but they're really great.

The Monster Science books are great.  They have zombies and aliens and werewolves.  But super cute.

You might like the Wile E. Coyote Experiements books.  On gravity and such.

 

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

On 8/8/2020 at 4:27 PM, importswim said:

We're a relatively appropriate household who are "religious" and don't curse much and we still love these books! LOL! I'm English, though, so probably has something to do with that sense of humor. 😄

 

This sounds more like us, LOL.  We've started Blood, Bones, and Bit and Bloomin' Rainforests, and I've been assaulted with constant factoids over the last two days, so it seems like they are a hit at our house, too!  

[8filltheheart]

On 8/7/2020 at 10:09 PM, NataliaMusk said:

My kids like these Science Comics. They're a lot less "horrible" but still fun. These Max Axiom comics are for science good too. 

Thanks for those links.  I ordered one of the Science Comics for my dd.  I'm going to see what she thinks.