Why Don't You Smell When You're Sleeping?

The latest compendium of fantastic facts from Mitchell Symons, the king of trivia and twice winner of the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award.

Mitchell Symons was born in London and educated at Mill Hill School and the LSE, where he studied Law. Since leaving BBC TV, where he was a researcher and then a director, he has worked as a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He was a principal writer of early editions of the board game Trivial Pursuit and has devised many television formats. Currently he writes an award-winning column for the Sunday Express. Mitchell has won the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Awards twice, for WHY EATING BOGEYS IS GOOD FOR YOU and DO IGLOOS HAVE LOOS?

Did you know... 
 
that a 'zyzzyx' is a type of wasp? 
that the chances of being injured by a toilet seat at some point in your life are reckoned to be one in 6.500? 
that the collective noun for giraffes is the very apt a 'tower of giraffes' 
and that snail races start with the words 'ready, steady, SLOW!' 
 
Amaze your mates and fascinate your family with these brilliant facts, and more!

Why Spacemen Can't Burp...

The latest collection of terrific trivia from the bestselling author of WHY EATING BOGEYS IS GOOD FOR YOU and double Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award winner.

Mitchell Symons was born in London and educated at Mill Hill School and the LSE, where he studied law. Since leaving BBC TV, where he was a researcher and then a director, he has worked as a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He was a principal writer of early editions of the boardgame Trivial Pursuit and has devised many television formats. He is also the author of more than thirty books, and currently writes a weekly column for the Sunday Express. Why Eating Bogeys is Good for You won the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award in 2010 and he repeated this success with Do Igloos Have Loos? in 2011.

The latest collection of terrific trivia from the bestselling author of WHY EATING BOGEYS IS GOOD FOR YOU and double Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award winner. 
 
The answers to these incredible questions will boggle your brain! 
Can rocks have snot? 
Why do doughnuts have holes in the middle? 
Could a human child ever be raised by animals? 
What have hyenas got to laugh about? 
And why is it impossible to belch after blast-off?!

Modern Cautionary Tales

Happily Never After

From bestselling revolting reference expert Mitchell Symons comes this wickedly funny modern take on Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Verses.

These poems will have you laughing out loud, just before you pause and think, "is Mitchell Symons writing about me?" Ideal for reading aloud at parties and family gatherings when the not-so-young may appreciate the humour even more than the children! Absolutely hilarious!

From bestselling revolting reference expert Mitchell Symons comes this wickedly funny modern take on Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Verses. 
 
Meet a true rogue's gallery of horrid kids who hit the skids. Callum: who was a dreadful bully until he received his come-uppance; Tiffany: who couldn't put down her mobile phone and died a horrible death; Bill: whose ability to fart ended in tears and Chloe: whose determination to have the most Facebook friends meant she lost her real ones.

Don't Wipe Your Bum with a Hedgehog

A collection of wise and wacky words of advice, from the bestselling and double Blue Peter Best Book with Facts-winning Mitchell Symons.

Mitchell Symons was born in London and educated at Mill Hill School and the LSE, where he studied Law. Since leaving BBC TV, where he was a researcher and then a director, he has worked as a writer, broadcaster and journalist. He was a principal writer of early editions of the board game Trivial Pursuit and has devised many television formats. Mitchell has won the Blue Peter Best Book with Facts Award twice, with WHY EATING BOGEYS IS GOOD FOR YOU and DO IGLOOS HAVE LOOS?

A collection of wise and wacky words of advice, from the bestselling and double Blue Peter Best Book with Facts-winning Mitchell Symons. 
 
From the marvellous mind of Mitchell Symons comes such gems of wisdom as: 
You can't trust a dog to watch your food. 
Why buy shampoo when real poo is free? 
Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, as you won't have a leg to stand on. 
And if getting even doesn't work, just get odd!

Facts and figures, stats and stories – an unputdownable treat of trivia

The Bumper Book For The Loo

The Bumper Book for the Loo is a hilarious compendium of endless delights - and a hugely entertaining, unputdownable feat of nonsense in the bestselling tradition of This Book, That Book and The Other Book.

Mitch knows more totally useless things about useless subjects than anybody on earth

Mitchell Symons was a principal writer for the early editions of Trivial Pursuit, has worked as a broadcaster and journalist for a variety of newspapers and magazines, and has written more than fifty bestselling books, including several for children. He has won the prestigious Blue Peter award for 'Best Book With Facts' for the past two years. Mitch is also a very keen and skilful poker player, and has recently written The Book of Poker Calls with his son Jack. He lives in Brighton with his wife Penny and their two sons.

When Mitchell Symons wrote his extraordinary bestsellers This Book, That Book and The Other Book - all neatly combined in one sensational volume, The Ultimate Loo Book - he was judged by many to be the King of Trivia. Now, inThe Bumper Book for the Loo, this supremo of weird and wonderful, astonishing and inexplicable facts, figures, stats and stories returns with a super selection of trivialistic treats - each one more remarkable and, yes, even more trivial than anything he's compiled before. 
 
For example, did you know that... 
 
·The first alarm clock could only ring at 4 a.m... 
·There was once an internet rumour that Belgium doesn't exist... 
·In 1830, King Louis XIX ruled France for just 15 minutes... 
·All mammals have jaws but only humans have chins... 
·Peru has more pyramids than Egypt... 
 
Packed to the rafters with all manner of useful and useless information, lists of the biggest, the smallest, the best and the worst, The Bumper Book for the Loo is a hilarious compendium of endless delights - and a hugely entertaining, unputdownable feat of nonsense!

Fascinating facts, figures and miscellany from one of BBC Radio 4’s best-loved programmes

Desert Island Discs: Flotsam & Jetsam

A treasury of fascinating facts, figures and miscellany in celebration of 70 years of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

This ultimate trivia book for fans of BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs invites the reader to delve into a treasure trove of castaway anecdotes and amusing luxury items... Guaranteed to take readers on a magical journey through the last 70 years of music

Thoroughly researched, lively and lighthearted... an artifact - the kind you would take to a desert island

Mitchell Symons is the doyen of trivialists, who has been truffling out absurd facts ever since he wrote all the questions in Trivial Pursuit that weren’t wrong. This book is exhaustive and slightly mad, and my life was appreciably poorer before I owned it. Outstanding

Mitchell Symons was born in London and studied Law at the LSE. He has worked as both a BBC television researcher and director, and was a principal writer for the early editions of Trivial Pursuit. An experienced broadcaster and journalist, Mitchell won the Columnist of the Year award in 2002 and now writes a regular column for the Sunday Express. He has written several books and for the past two years he has won the prestigious Blue Peter ‘Best Book with Facts’ award. He lives with his wife Penny and their two sons in Sussex.

Flotsam &amp; Jetsam is the ultimate trivia book for fans of the popular BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs, and a fascinating introduction for all those who have yet to discover its delights. 
 
Taking the reader through seven decades of wonderful entertainment, here is an absorbing range of facts, figures and miscellany – including who chose what, and why. It also reveals much about the castaways' drives and motivations, their influences and, of course, their lives. 
 
Spanning the early years with the original presenter, Roy Plomley, and the present day, the Desert Island Discs programme has brought its own unique surprises to listeners, some very personal, some humorous, such as Eric Morecambe's choice of a deckchair as his luxury and Ernie Wise's of a deckchair ticket machine. 
 
From Beethoven to the Beatles, from chessboards and chocolate to Jane Austen and Zola, Flotsam &amp; Jetsam is the perfect companion guide to the national treasure that is Desert Island Discs.

Mitchell Symons

FRIGHTFUL FACTS AND GORY STORIES . . . 
 
Top trivia about life in the past such as: 
 
Did Vikings wear horns on their helmets? 
 
How did Ancient Egyptians make their mummies? 
 
Which animals were gladiators forced to fight?

Mitchell Symons

That's So Gross!: History

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