Really Really Big Questions

"Prepare to exercise your mind as you investigate these big ideas and more on the roller-coaster ride of reason and ridiculousness that is philosophy."--P. [4] of cover.

What am I made of? How do I know I'm real?Will I still be the same person at eighty? Following up on the success of Really, Really Big Questions, and Really, Really Big Questions About God, Faith, and Religion here comes an entertaining book that explores the important, weird, and sometimes metaphysical questions that children have about themselves. From the physical—Why do I like chocolate? How does my brain work? —to the philosophical—Is my memory what makes me? Is there life after death? —Really, Really Big Questions About Me and my Body by Stephen Law, illustrated by Marc Aspinall takes on the deeper questions that come with growing self-awareness. Throughout it all, humorous writing, funky art, and fun features like optical illusions, amusing stories, quotes, and mind-teasers keep it light and make this philosophic journey unforgettably interesting.

From the team that brought us Really, Really, Really Big Questions and Really, Really Big Questions About Space and Time, comes another book that answers Really, Really Big Questions about Religion and Faith. An unusual and fun introduction to the philosophy, ethics and meaning behind different kinds of belief. It explores tricky, strange and often unanswered questions such as Do miracles really happen? What do gods look like? Do all religions have a rule book? and How do things become sacred? Expand your spiritual knowledge!

In the spirit of Schott’s Miscellany, The Magic of Reality, and The Dangerous Book for Boys comes Can a Bee Sting a Bee?—a smart, illuminating, essential, and utterly delightful handbook for perplexed parents and their curious children. Author Gemma Elwin Harris has lovingly compiled weighty questions from precocious grade school children—queries that have long dumbfounded even intelligent adults—and she’s gathered together a notable crew of scientists, specialists, philosophers, and writers to answer them. Authors Mary Roach and Phillip Pullman, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, chef Gordon Ramsay, adventurist Bear Gryllis, and linguist Noam Chomsky are among the top experts responding to the Big Questions from Little People, (“Do animals have feelings?”, “Why can’t I tickle myself?”, “Who is God?”) with well-known comedians, columnists, and raconteurs offering hilarious alternative answers. Miles above your average general knowledge and trivia collections, this charming compendium is a book fans of the E.H. Gombrich classic, A Little History of the World, will adore.

A New York Times Notable Book of 2011, included on Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly, and NPR'S Best Comics lists A haunting postmodern fable, Big Questions is the magnum opus of Anders Nilsen, one of the brightest and most talented young cartoonists working today. This beautiful minimalist story, collected here for the first time, is the culmination of ten years and more than six hundred pages of work that details the metaphysical quandaries of the occupants of an endless plain, existing somewhere between a dream and a Russian steppe. A downed plane is thought to be a bird and the unexploded bomb that came from it is mistaken for a giant egg by the group of birds whose lives the story follows. The indifferent, stranded pilot is of great interest to the birds--some doggedly seek his approval, while others do quite the opposite, leading to tensions in the group. Nilsen seamlessly moves from humor to heartbreak. His distinctive, detailed line work is paired with plentiful white space and large, often frameless panels, conveying an ineffable sense of vulnerability and openness. Big Questions has roots in classic fables--the birds and snakes have more to say than their human counterparts, and there are hints of the hero's journey, but here the easy moral that closes most fables is left open and ambiguous. Rather than lending its world meaning, Nilsen's parable lets the questions wander where they will.

Does the universe have a shape? What makes sunshine? Do stars explode? How do you build a time machine? Do aliens look like me? When it comes to the big questions about astrophysics, kids go right for the interesting stuff. Professor Mark Brake makes great use of this as he serves up a heaping helping of kid-friendly space science. Through an entertaining Q&A format, hip retro illustrations, mind teasers, quotations, amusing anecdotes, and plenty of great research, kids will get a thought-provoking introduction to the work of great scientific minds including Newton, Galileo, and Einstein while they have their most interesting (and oddball) questions answered in style.

"In a world that doesn't always welcome big questions, a persistent and inquisitive girl keeps asking them anyway--because asking questions is how we learn and grow"--

A book that tries to answer all the big questions about life, death and the universe - a mixture of science and philosophy put in simple terms that 10- to 12-year-olds can understand.