Publisher's Synopsis
Crack science writer Kathy Wollard answers those sneakily simple questions that ambush even the most erudite moms and dads. Like: "Why do apples turn brown when cut?" Or "Why do we get dizzy from spinning around on the playground?" Or "How can a fly walk up the kitchen wall?"
The 125 questions are all derived from the experiences central to a kid's world-stuff that happens at home, in the backyard, at school, on vacation. There are the inevitable insect questions-"Why do bees die after they sting someone?" (the honeybee's stinger is barbed, and can't detach from the bee without pulling out its venom sac, a fatal injury). Food questions-"Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?" (a fruit, in fact a berry). Science questions-"We used dry ice in our school play to make fog. How does it do that?" (Unlike water, carbon dioxide goes straight from gas to solid and back-when frozen as dry ice, it "melts" into fog.) And the classic: "Why can't we tickle ourselves?" (Tickling depends on the element of surprise-and the brain can't surprise itself.)