Secret Factopia: Follow the Trail of 400 Hidden Facts by Paige Towler, illustrated by Andy Smith

Title: Secret Factopia: Follow the Trail of 400 Hidden Facts

Author: Paige Towler, illustrated by Andy Smith

Genre: History

Publisher: Walker Books Australia

Published: 4^th September 2024

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 208

Price: $25.99

Synopsis: Discover facts about detectives, poisons, lost cities, spy gadgets and more in this new addition to Britannica’s bestselling FACTopia! series!

Follow an ingenious trail of 400 facts about everything from secret recipes and escape artists to hidden treasure and invisibility cloaks. You’ll meet an underwear-stealing cat, find out about sharks that glow, uncover a toilet in disguise and learn about the biggest ever game of hide-and-seek. And the facts aren’t the only secrets in this book, for hidden amongst the illustrations are ten mice just waiting to be found!

Lavishly illustrated with witty illustrations that combine artwork and photography, and verified by the experts at Encyclopaedia Britannica, Secret FACTopia! sheds light on some of the world’s most amazing ‘hidden’ facts, which children will be desperate to share with their friends and family.

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The Factopia series continues with the latest book that explores 400 facts about secrets, that have been secret, or that hint at some kind of secret within the fact. Whether it’s the underwear stealing cat, glowing sharks, toilets in disguise, or big games of hide and seek, this book takes you on a journey through surprising facts that you can use to wow people at school, at work, or at your local pub trivia night with these fabulously hidden facts that thanks to this new book.

While you’re reading, keep an eye out for the ten mice hidden throughout the pages. Each page leads to the next, and sometimes, leads to another page through a theme, and this will lead you in a different direction and path through the facts. I read this in order, following each path from the first page to the end to make reviewing this book easier. Each fact follows on from the other, linked through a word or association that brings the book together. In doing so, I felt that this highlighted that no fact is isolated. Each fact takes from history, science, antiquity, prehistory, as well as cryptids and rumours that ignite our imaginations and help us imagine worlds beyond our own.

Each trail is follows a path along lines and arrows, with boxes, illustrations and photos, and all sorts of visual elements to create the pathways of facts and information in an engaging way for all ages, and the back of the book has a nifty list of resources that these facts have been drawn from. They’re also simply written, and give enough for readers to be engaged in the book. Following reading the book, you can explore the facts beyond the page and find out more about the strange world that we live in.  

The beauty of books like this is that it brings non-fiction to life in an exciting way, and makes it accessible for readers of all levels and ages. It gives history and spies life, brings old languages back to life as well. Secret Factopia is an exciting addition to this series, and every book creates a sense of wonder and awe that captures the imagination and allows an interest in facts to be ignited. I have enjoyed the books I have read in this series and the various ideas and thoughts they can spark in readers and I hope more people enjoy them.