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It's
True! Crime Doesn't Pay
(1)
by Beverley MacDonald
illustrations by Andrew Weldon
Did you know that maggots can help solve murders? That right-handed
criminals run away to the left when they leave a crime scene?
That the people who are best at detecting lies are not police
but mothers?
Once you had to catch a crook red-handed to prove him guilty.
Now we can use the pattern of a bloodstain, fingerprints, computers
and DNA samples to solve crimes. Even so, mysteries remain,
like the Shark Arm murder and the strange case of D.B. Cooper,
who jumped out of a plane with $200,000 and was never seen again...
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It's
True! Frogs Are Cannibals (2)
by Michael J. Tyler
illustrations by Mic Looby
Where do frogs and toads go in the daytime? Is the Boiling Frog
Theory true? How do frogs climb up sheets of glass? Michael
Tyler, Australia's 'Frogman', has all the answers.
Read this book and find out about poison-dart frogs, toad tunnels,
stowaway frogs, frogs that sunbake and frogs with anti-freeze
in their blood. Discover how to say 'long-snouted false toad'
in Latin, and how to cook frog's legs for dinner! |
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It's
True! Your Hair Grows 15 kilometres a Year (3)
by Diana Lawrenson
illustrations by Leigh Hobbs
Did you know that a single strand of hair can show if you’ve
been poisoned?
Or that redheads were once burned at the stake as witches?
Find out the facts on follicles and what makes hair frizzy,
fine or fair. Read up on beards, babies, barbers and baldness.
Talk about toupees and discover that hair is everywhere.
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It's
True! There ARE Bugs in Your Bed (4)
by Heather Catchpole & Vanessa Woods
illustrations by Craig Smith
Bloodsucking vampires, deadly dust dwellers, toilet terrors
and things that squish, squirm and slime. Did you have any idea
you were sharing your house - and maybe your bed - with monsters?
In this book you'll meet a hideous creature that can live for
a month without its head, a beetle that blasts its victims with
toxic bottom spray, weird beings that breathe through their
skin, five-eyed monsters that vomit on their prey to turn them
into soup, and much, much more! |
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It's
True! Pigs Do Fly (5)
written and illustrated by Terry Denton
Who wants to fly like a bird? Almost everyone. But birds are
built for flight, with wings and hollow bones, and we're not.
So how do we get off the ground?
Terry Denton delves into history and finds inventors and scientists
trying out all sorts of daring, gravity-defying and sometimes
crazy ideas. War kites, a hot-air balloon manned by barnyard
animals, an aerial steam carriage and a giant catapult all helped
unlock the secret of human flight. |
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It's
True! The Romans Were the Real Gangsters (6)
by John & Joshua Wright
illustrations by Joshua Wright
Marius butchered his enemies, Crassus stole, Clodius lied and
Julius Caesar didn’t care about anyone other than Julius
Caesar. This book is full of cheating, stabbing, vomiting and
general bad behaviour. There are severed heads on spears, messy
massacres and streets flowing with blood. Find out who wore
a purple-striped toga, who was crooked, who was mean and who
was just plain crazy.
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It's
True! We Came From Slime (7)
by Kenneth McNamara illustrated by Andrew Plant
In the long-ago days BEFORE dinosaurs, there were some seriously
weird creatures living on Earth. Today, fossil hunters find
remains of these animals in ancient rocks.
Discover some strange animals that lived in the sea half a billion
years ago, including one that looked like a vacuum cleaner with
teeth and five eyes. Find out about scorpion-like animals bigger
than you, insects as big as parrots, and spiders as big as cats!
And did we really come from slime? |
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It's
True! A Bushfire Burned My Dunny Down (8)
by Tracey McGuire illustrated by Bill Wood
What's it really like when a firestorm strikes, reducing everything
in its path to ash?
Read eye-witness accounts of people who’ve survived terrifying
bushfires, including some who’ve had hair-raising escapes
- like Lou who lost the soles of his feet, Shannon who lost
his outdoor dunny, Lucky who lost her ears, Simone who saved
Lucky's life and Kelley who saved the dirty washing. And learn
practical tips on how to reduce the risk of bushfires. |
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It's
True! Fashion Can Be Fatal (9)
by Susan Green illustrated by Gregory Rogers
Are you dying to be trendy? Would you kill to be cool?
Find out about the history of European fashion, and the victims
of fashion crazes through the ages: Which dancer was strangled
by her own scarf, and why did King George wear a corset? Why
did women want bigger bums, and what do you do with a codpiece? |
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It's
True! Dinosaurs Never Died (10)
by John Long illustrated by Travis Tischler
Did dinosaurs really die out 65 million years ago? Or are they
still with us today, in the form of birds?
This book is full of astounding information about dinosaurs,
including new fossil discoveries which reveal secrets from the
days when 80-tonne titanosaurids and chicken-sized raptors shared
the Earth with killers like Tyrannosaurus rex. Read
about how to find dinosaur eggs and footprints, find out what
palaeontologists do, and get the latest theories on why most
of the dinosaurs died out.
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It's
True! Animals are Electrifying (11)
by Rick Wilkinson illustrations by Mic Looby
Did you know that fish can walk, snakes can fly and eggs can
talk? Full of amazing animals who adapt to their environment
in bizarre and unexpected ways - from electric eels that could
light up your house, to lizards that spurt blood from their
eyes, and lemurs that eat enough poison to kill a dozen humans!
Read this book if you don't want to get spewed on by a sea bird,
slashed by a mantis shrimp or slimed by a hagfish. |
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It's
True! Burke and Wills Forgot the Frying Pan (12)
by David Greagg
illustrated by Roland Harvey
These
are the stories of Australia’s explorers: the brave,
the bold, the famous and the foolish. They struggled up mountains,
trekked across deserts and marched through mudflats. Some
found rivers, some lost themselves, others lost their tempers.
Read about Leichhardt who crossed Australia waving a sword
and arguing in German, and the ruthless Major Mitchell, who
screeched so loudly they named a cockatoo after him.
Could you solve the Riddle of the Rivers like Sturt? Would
you take up exploring to impress a girl, like Burke did? And
on your next bushwalk, will you remember the frying pan? |
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It's
True! Squids Suck (13)
by Nicki Greenberg
illustrations by Nicki Greenberg
Mini brains in each of the eight arms of an octopus? Male cuttlefish
posing as females during the mating season? Colour-changing
octopuses? Flying squids? Squid-searching scientists sifting
through whale spew? BLUE blood? Weird. And that's only part
of what this book on squids (and the like) has to offer. Haven't
even mentioned what some squids are like at feeding time yet.
That's the gross part.
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It's
True! This Book is A Load of Rubbish (14)
by Deborah Burnside
illustrations by Andrew Plant
No one likes to talk about human waste, but really,
where does all the stuff that you flush down the toilet go?
And whatever happened to that glass bottle you put in the
recycling bin during lunchtime? This book gets down and dirty
to give you facts about everything that ends up in our bins
and beyond. Learn about the history of dunnies and landfill
lasagnes and while you're at it, you can take down recipes
for kitchen scraps and instructions for your very own worm
farm- all so you can lend a hand in helping the environment.
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It's
True! Your Cat could be a Spy (15)
by Sue Bursztynski
illustrations by Mitch Vane
James Bond, CIA, plots and secret codes...Spy on the spies
and go undercover in history! Sift through the layers of all
things top secret and you'll find out that the creator of
fictional spy James Bond was a secret agent himself, one Saxon
king got information while singing love songs in the enemy
camp and an Australian spy (a man) steered a ship through
a storm wearing only a pink negligee!
Uncover
more truths and pass it on... |
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It's
True! Space Turns You into Spaghetti (16)
by Heather Catchpole & Vanessa Woods
illustrations by Heath McKenzie
Look up into the sky and you've got to agree - there's a lot
of unexplored space out there. We've all probably dreamt of
space travel but do we all really know what's 'out there'?
Exploding stars, boiling planets, robotic explorers, black holes,
white dwarfs and red giants...this book lets you zoom past planets
and rocket round galaxies. Get ready to be spaced out! Find
out what it takes to become an astronaut and how to hunt for
aliens with your computer.
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It's
True! Hauntings Happen and Ghosts Get Grumpy (17)
by
Meredith Costain
illustrations by Craig Smith
Would you FREAK OUT if furniture threw itself downstairs and
fires broke out in the cupboards? Or if you saw a festering
green hand appear behind you in a mirror? There are stories
in here that will chill your spine and facts that will give
you goosebumps. But do not fear-you may even unearth a few
truths behind some spookiness that will help you sleep better
at night! Are you brave enough to venture into the unknown
world of UFOs, psychic detectives, premonitions and the mysteries
of the Bermuda Triangle? |
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It's
True! You Eat Poison Every Day (18)
by Peter Macinnis
illustrations by Bettina Guthridge
Food manufacturers used to play some rather nasty tricks when
making plain ol' apple juice, tea and margarine. Find out what
they got away with as well as how headlice treatments got rid
off more than just lice, hair dyes burnt scalps and green wallpaper
killed bedbugs! Discover lots more poisonous facts- from the
parts poison played in wars and medicines to how apple pips
may not be so innocent after all! |
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It's
True! The Vikings Got Lost (19)
by David Greagg
illustrations by Binny Hobbs
Raid and invade - that's what we always hear about when it
comes to vikings. And oh, the horned helmets. But guess what?
Vikings didn't have horns on their helmets! They had names
like Ulf the Unwashed and Eystein Fart, were gentle with baby
ducks, made pizza (without the tomato) and loved board games!
Sure, the vikings were great fighters but there was more to
them than you've been told. Find out more cool facts and surprise
yourself! |
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It's
True! Women were Warriors (20)
by Carol Jones
illustrations by Elise Hurst
Warning: This is not a book about saints or do-gooders.
This is a book about lying, cheating, bullying, murdering, vengeful
women! From queens like Boudicca to scheming empresses like
Cleopatra to cut-throat pirates like Madam Ching - these are
women who've murdered their husbands, executed their enemies
and stolen whole countries from their rivals! Women the weaker
sex? NO WAY! |
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It's
True! You Can Make Your Own Jokes (21)
by Sharon Holt
illustrations by Ross Kinnaird
Tired of the same old knock-knock jokes and weak punchlines?
Then make your own! You'll have your friends and family roaring
with laughter from your wit and humour, thanks to some very
handy worksheets. While you're at it, find out how April Fools'
Day came about or why a punchline is called ... a punchline.
And why do we find things funny in the first place, anyway?
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It's
True! Everest Kills (22)
by Kim Wilson
illustrations by Andrew Plant
Did you know that Mount Everest is so close to space that
the sky is black? Or that mountains this high can make people
crazy enough to walk off a cliff, hallucinate, or strip naked
in sub-zero temperatures? Get the awesome facts, read all
about the spooky mysteries and (best of all) the death-defying
stories stories of brave (and extreme) adventurers! |
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It's
True! Bushrangers Lost Their Heads (23)
by John Barwick
illustrations by Stephen Axelsen
They were mad, bad, some of them were bearded and some of
them naked. Be it hangings, beheadings, bank robberies or
quick getaways on stolen racehorses, bushrangers led a crazy
life, living outside of the law! Find out about these wild
men and what they really got up to, but be warned ... it's
not a pretty picture.
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It's
True! Sport Stinks (24)
by Justin Kemp & Damian Farrow
illustrations by Heath McKenzie
Think sport is just all fun and games? Then you don't know
the full story. Get the inside track on the marathon man who
hitched a ride and the woman who swam with the Loch Ness monster.
Discover if tennis players have psychic abilities or if you've
got what it takes to swim across the Bass Strait! Dive into
these amazing stories of successes and failures and get ready
for some intense sporty facts training. |
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It's
True! Sleep Makes You Smarter (25)
by Thalia Kalkipsakis
illustrations by Andrew Plant
Wake up to the wacky world inside your brain at night! From snores to dreams and the brain waves in between, you'll find out what 'restless leg syndrome' is, how electricity affects our sleep, who the real life 'Sleeping Beauty' is, and discover cool animal facts like how ducks can sleep with one eye open and horses sleep standing up. Tuck yourself in and uncover the mysteries of sleep! |
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It's
True! Your Bones are Stronger than Concrete (26)
by Diana Lawrenson
illustrations by Geoff Kelly
Ever thought what we'd be like without our bones to hold us up? If skulls and skeletons pique your interest, dip in and you'll find out what sort of day to day things are made up of ground-up bones (soap and jelly are just two of them!), how bones can help in murder cases, shed light on the history of Santa Claus and ended up on a pirate's flag. |
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It's True! Pirates ate Rats (27)
by Heather Catchpole and Vanessa Woods
illustrations by Mic Looby
Avast there, me hearties!
From the Mediterranean sailors who kidnapped Julius Caesar to Blackbeard (who boarded enemy ships with his beard on fire!), this reveals little-known facts and astonishing stories about buccaneers ancient and modern, male and female, polite and barbaric! Arm yourself to the teeth with facts piratical and find out which well-known pirate hotspot is nearest to you.
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