One of the coolest things about reading to your kids is finding awesome trivia books, so that you can all geek out together. You get to present cool, goofy information to your children with all the fun pictures while also learning cool, goofy facts. I can tell you with certain detail how skin breathes, for instance. Or how electric eels use their electricity (and that it is stored above their eyes!!) I also know how to properly hold a baby bunny and all about how smell drives taste, including the subtle influence of the mysterious 5th taste bud. Ooooooh. And don’t even get me started on the fascinating step-by-step break down of the trajectory of the germ. The latest fun book was all about what can happen in one minute – here are just some of the cool, goofy facts: 1. Your brain sends and receives 6 trillion messages every minute just to keep your body working right. Think about that. And when you think about that, think about how many extra messages you’re sending! 2. The human vocal chords vibrate 6000 times a minutes during speech. (This one is super cool. A couple years back, I started noticing a very raspy voice and after a month or so, I finally went to the ENT. Long story short, I was yelping it up way too much at kid sessions – lots of outdoor fun – but I got to see what my vocal chords look like magnified and felt a heck of an appreciation for what they go through every day. I try to be a bit more respectful now!) 3. The hibernating American black bear’s heartbeat is 8 beats per minute. That is just unbelievable to me. I use a heart monitor now & then when running, and I cannot fathom how much stillness 8 beats per minute means. 4. This one is the kid favorite: The honey bee beats its wings 11,400 times a minute!! Yeah. I know. Seriously. I could go on and on. Really, I could – but I’ll save you the effort of that glazed, smiling, nodding thing I have encountered at parties when I start sharing this oh-so-valuable information…and I’ll just taper off right here 🙂
