Ripley's Believe It or Not! Expect...the Unexpected

I hope they continue to search out more of the bizarre and obscure. Helps me to realize that whatever I may do I have a benchmark that proves I am not off the deep end.

I purchased [[ASIN:978-1893951129 Ripley's Believe It or Not: Expect the Unexpected (Hardcover)]] for my ten-year-old grandson for Christmas. He was so delighted with this book that he left all his other gifts to sit down and read it. This is a surefire pleasing gift for children and adults who enjoy unusual facts, visually startling, sometimes grotesque, things and real living beings.

I like this book because there are a lot of gross things in it and pictures showing the gross things. It is very interesting. It is one of my favorites in the series. (written by mom, but info provided by 9 yr old boy)

Known internationally for its oddities, Ripley's once again publishes a volume filled with amazing facts and astounding information. I loved these as a child and I'm still entertained by the snippets of stunning factoids about the world around us. It makes for a great water-closet read, not to mention a way to gain all sorts of trivia to use as ice breakers. From the one-eyed kitten to the kid that kicked a target almost 3,000 times in an hour, it's all bound to make you go, "Wow!"... or at least cause you to shake your head in wonder.

One of my favorite books when I was about 10 years ago,was "Believe it or Not!" by Ripley.It was a hardcover of 172 pages and an utter delight to me,living in a small town,well before the age of TV.This fascinating and yes,,unbelievable stuff opened up the wonders of the world. Later on, we got Ripley's cartoons in the papers,and in the early 50's a long string of paperbacks.Believe it or Not!;they sold for 25 cents. Ripley's has continued to entertain and amaze us right up to the present time.This latest book ,like those of the past,is once again excellent.Now that Ripley's is on TV,you would think that books are out of date. Not so,the stuff on TV is the sort of thing that is enhanched by sound and motion.Books still do an excellent job of covering most stories.The daily cartoon in the papers has not been available where I live for several years.However;that is not a problem,as Ripley's website carries it and has archives available as well. The item in this book that was most interesting to me was about Bryan Berg, the amazing cardstacker shown on pages 70 and 71.I had the wonderful opportunity to watch him build these amazing structures at the Canadian National Exhibition here in Toronto in 2005.Even these pictures hardly do him justice. He has constructed the Empite State Building ,25 feet high and using a ladder. He also constructs a structure ,a couple of levels high.Then he places a plywood panel on top;and gets a baseball team and its coach to stand on top. Believe It or Not!;It doesn't collapse. If interested,Bryan has written a book,"Stacking the Deck" and shows the basis methods used in building these structures. It's a lot of fun,even if you only attempt simple buildings;but the sky is the limit. Once again another great Ripley book.Not only is the material excellent;the paper,construction,printing and color is excellent as well.