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Side dose of those Record books
I didn’t have any of those but I DID have a copy of The Way Things Work by David Macaulay, which is an exploration of mechanical concepts demonstrated with adorable illustrations of mammoths. Kinda similar presentation, according to my search.
I should get a new (old) copy.
I just bought a new copy of that for my nephew for Christmas! Didn't realize it's been around for a while.
Oh that’s exciting! I hope he loves it as much as I did!
I can’t speak for the revised version, but the original was super engaging when I was a kid (probably got it around 95 or thereabouts, so somewhere in the 6-8 range), but not so serious or complicated as to distract from the whimsy. It’s also educational in a natural language way, which I feel is better for developing interest. It’s not difficult to read.
It’s one of many things that led me to a deep intense curiosity about the world around me!
The revised version is also great. Most of the content is still the same, a nuclear reactor works just the same way as it did in 1995. But most of the IT topics are updated. Instead of a ball mouse you'll find an optical one, instead of the CRT they explain LCD screens etc.
There's also a "new"(2016) book in the same style but for science instead of technology. It's just as good as you'd expect it to be.
Wow, memory unlocked. Childhood friends had that book, very epic.
The computer mouse image was the greatest. It's very outdated nowadays, by so fantastic.
This was one of my favs growing up too! Thanks for the reminder
Oh, cool that's the one where they joke about the water being scared of the mammoth, so they put 'walls' on the boat to prevent it from being seen and therefore the boat floats instead of sinks?
You need something like this to crack them open:
Well the comment section led me down an eBay rabbit hole and now I’ve got like 10 books coming.
Thriftbooks.com
Never heard of this before. I’ll take a look. Thanks!
Oh man, I love TB. My wife and I love reading. We are constantly ordering books, and you can find pretty much everything there.
My school library pulled these books from the shelves because every time it was "library time" kids would always rush to pick these books first, and they said "all you do is look at the pictures" which is bad apparently.
Fuck that reasoning. That's what got me into the insects those creepy looking ones. How else are you supposed to describe a praying mantis, like it's 1350 and carved into stone?
Whoever made that decision deserves a punch in the face and should be demoted from adulthood, back to school.
I bet you kids rotted your brains with that awful Bill Nye as well.
My school library had a bunch of Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes comics and some of those how to draw marvel style books and Shel Silverstein poetry books with pictures that got me interested in reading everything else
These were my jam when I was a kid
Fact checkers would cream in their pants if they ever got a hold of these. But not because they agree with what’s written in it.
Poor kids with 6d dice and those books: let's play dungeons and dragons.
I’ve still got my arms and armor 🤓
Pfft, Crystal & Gem was best.
All I could find was an amazon link for the first edition.
Ah yes, the well established science of Crystal Healing (see inside the book).
I just got a later edition of this on eBay!
Nice!
These were right next to then on my shelf
Used to have a big green book called the Dictionary of Animals.
My favourite was the wobbegong.
I kind of wanted to be an astronaut, but by the time I grew up we weren't really doing that any more and tbh it looks kind of dangerous. I also fart a lot, so I don't think I'd be very popular on the ISS.
The books were great, but putting on an Eyewitness VHS and hearing that opening theme song is a core memory for me.
May I recommend TierZoo's videos? He uses the eyewitness theme as his intro song. He knows the way.
WAS
IST
WAS
Your local library may have some!
figure a: what I thought as a kid the job market would be when I grow up.
These were great books
My favorite ones from childhood were the ones on crystals and money. I managed to find them in a yard sale a few years ago.
I used to get two of these bad boys for christmas from my grandfather every year. Top tier!
I had the Titanic and Bismarck books.
yes!
This was the shit, the gem planet and jungle ones banged hard
These and I Spy
Also the incredible cross sections
Oh did they not have the Dorling Kindersley branding over there?
I remember the arms and armor one! I got it for my best friend one Channukah... like 20 years ago
I had the Brimax Myths and Legends, started a love affair with ancient mythology and storytelling that lasts to this day.