The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions

Isabel Thomas

Aaron Cushey

Bloomsbury, 2022

96pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781526623751

Can I sleep with my eyes open?

Why can’t I tickle myself?

What’s the world’s worst smell?

Why are bubbles always round?

Children asked impossible questions all the time much to the chagrin of their parents who are trying to get the child to sleep or who have no idea of the answers. And the child is not satisfied with “I don’t know” but now this book allows you to follow that with, “Let’s find out.” Starting with the premise that science is fundamentally about asking questions, particularly impossible ones, using what you know already as the stepping stones to look for answers which often throw up new questions, and continuing to experiment, explore, collect and discover while all the while discovering new rabbit-holes to investigate, the book gives the answers to a wide range of questions based on best-practice current knowledge. 

So as well as demonstrating why humans don’t have tails, why we need eyebrows and how many stars there are, they even explain why tortoises can beat hares! Lots of pictures and accessible text that keeps the audience front and centre make this a book that will not only help parents out but also nurture the budding scientists and support their curiosity as it validates that there are no silly questions – just those needing answers.  Perhaps they will be inspired to ask their own and that could build the basis of your science program for the year.  Investigating what they want to know rather than what some curriculum writer thinks they should!