Pick Me Up - Softcover

Just try to put Pick Me Up down--we dare you. Like surfing the Web, it's alarmingly easy to lose oneself in this heavy compendium of "stuff you need to know." It's even designed with Internet-savvy readers in mind. Once you get beyond the dizzying lenticular cover, open to any page. After gawking at the many bright, sharp photos, illustrations, charts, and caption sunbursts, dig in to the meat: blocks (and triangles and circles) of text about everything from how to confuse an angry seagull to a history of medicine to Germany's exports and imports to an exploration of the meaning of life. As you read along, you'll come across underlined and bold-faced words with a page number following. These are the cross references that will send you flying from page to page, ever deeper into understanding the topic du jour. In the spread about wheels, for example, there’s a highlighted reference to "Inca, Aztec, and Mayan civilizations 298." Turn to page 298 and start reading about pyramids and lost cities...then get sidetracked by "fight 154." Suddenly you’re into "rappers 306" and "immune system 86." Get the picture?

Students won't necessarily be able to write entire school reports from Pick Me Up, but they will certainly be able to pepper their papers--and conversation--with unusual and useful facts. Kids and grownups alike will happily spend hours browsing Pick Me Up, always finding something new to marvel over. --Emilie Coulter

Grade 4-8–This inventive compendium of interesting facts combines elements of an almanac, a trivia book, and the Internet with playful touches of humor. The table of contents, index, and a simple color-coding scheme provide subject access, but the book is not intended to be read from front to back. Each page includes a wide range of information, much of it connected in unexpected ways. Cross-references, which appear in bold with page numbers within the text, approximate the role of hyperlinks and allow readers to follow related topics of interest. A page on the Mona Lisa, for instance, has obvious cross-references to Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance, but also leads to mass media and supermodels. A spread that starts with national economies also includes features on online shopping, obesity, and gospel music. The graphic design of each page is impressively diverse, utilizing charts, photographs, cartoons, and diagrams in a variety of colors and styles. Some illustrations convey most of the information, such as a clever flow chart that shows how the book works. The tone of the text is often irreverent, but this matches the general theme that information is fun and worthy of enthusiasm. Comparing the Roman Empire to McDonald's may not be the first reference for a school report, but it's a distinctly inventive way to get readers to think imaginatively about both. This unique resource is a natural choice for the many fans of the Guinness Book of Records.–Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR
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