Amazing Book Facts!

Gail Skroback Hennessey

Click here for the complete free download:Amazing Book Facts!

Book Facts:

1. Did you know that the Chinese invented paper around 105 AD?

2. Each second, 57 books are sold. Someone figured that in one day, you'd need 78 miles of book shelving to store that amount of books.http://infactcollaborative.com/things/book-facts.html

3. Each year, the main library at Indiana University sinks about one inch from the weight of all the books!

4. Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,worked as a boy, at Cadbury, as a chocolate taste tested! Shows you never know how your childhood may shape what you do as an adult!

5. A new book by Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr.Seuss, was recently found. Called "What Pet Should I Get?", the book will be published some time in 2015.

6. Another fun fact about Dr. Seuss, he was challenged to write a book using only 50 words. The result, "Green Eggs and Ham". Here are the 50 words he used: a, am, and, anywhere, are, be, boat, box, car, could, dark, do, eat, eggs, fox, goat, good, green, ham, here, house, I, if, in, let, like, may, me, mouse, not, on, or, rain, Sam, say, see, so, thank, that, the, them, there, they, train, tree, try, will, with, would, you.

7. Ever read, "Where the Wild Things Are", written by Maurice Sendak? He originally wanted the book to be called "Where the Wild Horses Are", but couldn't draw horses and told his editor, he could draw..."things".

8. The author of Frankenstein was Mary Shelley. The monster was NOT Frankenstein, he had no name. Frankenstein was the scientist who created the monster.

9.The author ofAlice in Wonderland ,Lewis Carroll, is credited with introducing 21 made-up words to the Oxford English Dictionary.

10. Someone calculated that Charles Dickens used 4.6 million different words in his writings. Also, a new treat, the lollypop was featured in a couple of Dicken's books.

11. Books helped to build a road! 2.5 million books were shredded and added to the road asphalt for part of the M6 road in England.

12. The world's first library was built by Ashurbanipal(668-627BC) in Assyria

13. In 2012,998 people, in Sydney, Australia, set a record for the most people balancing books on their head!

14. Sadly, worldwide, 1 in 5 adults can not read or write.(as of 2014)http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/508275/Top-10-facts-about-books

15.Did you know that people in the country of Indiatake the title for the most reading done each week? On average 10.7 hours a week is spent reading.http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/top10facts/508275/Top-10-facts-about-books

16. The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered the oldest written story. It comes from the people of Mesopotamia, telling the adventures of the King of Uruk( @2750-2500 BC).

17 The first book printed on the printing press was the Bible, in 1450.It was done on Johann Gutenberg's press. The Bible is alsothe largest-selling non-fiction book in the world!

18. A library in Charleston,m South Caroline, opened its doors in 1698, making it the first publiclibrary in the America. http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932506.html

19. As of2014, the handwritten,The Codex Leicester, by Leonardo da Vinci, which sold for a whopping $49.4 million dollars,in 1994, is still the most expensive book ever sold. The buyer...Bill Gates.

20. According to the Pew Research Center, 1 out of 4 Americans said they didn't read even ONE book in the past year! http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/23/opinion/blow-reading-books-is-fundamental.html?_r=0

Quotes about Reading and Books:

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body."Richard Steele

"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark."Victor Hugo, Les Miserables

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." Walt Disney

"A book is like a garden, carried in the pocket." Chinese Proverb

"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read." Abraham Lincoln

"A house without books is like a room without windows." Heinrich Mann

"The more that you read,the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."Dr.Seuss

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."Harry S Truman

Extensions:

Illustrate one of the quotes.

Which quote do you like the best and why? Write a paragraph explaining what you think your favorite quote means.

According to a2014 study, posted at Buzzfeed.com, one out of five kids asked said that if a friend found them reading a book, they'd be embarrassed! The study also found that of those kids responding, 54% said they prefer to watch television than read a book. Have students write a paragraph responding to this survey.

Source of study: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/utterly-disappointing-facts-about-books#.krLXka6XD

Check out my informative web quest on the Library of Congress, our nation's library. Are you a bibliophile(someone that loves books)?The Library of Congress, called our Nation's Library has over 33 million books. There are also over 12.5 million photographs and 6 million pieces of sheet music! Learn more about the Nation's Library with this fun and informative webquest.Click Here:https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Library-of-Congress-Explore-Our-Nations-LibraryWebquest-604584