You will definitely find the unexpected when opening the pages of this National Geographic KiDS title focusing on animals.

What I expected to find was page after page of facts grouped around a particular animal. Ones like “50 Terrific Facts About Tigers” and “50 Roly-Poly Facts About Hippos” did make the final cut. But then we have over 100 other categories that the creative team put together to provide variety and fun. A few of my favorites were:

• 100 Eye-Popping Facts About Animal Vision
• 35 Loud Facts About Musical Animals
• 35 Facts About Tiny But Mighty Creatures
• 15 Mature Facts About How Long Animals Live

Animals loving readers will for sure spend hours of time filling up their brains with these fascinating facts. The 224 pages are packed with colorful photos and backgrounds. I also appreciated the thorough Index where users can find the page(s) featuring their favorite animal.

As I absorbed every fact while reading the book, the author part of my brain kicked in with this question: How did they ever go about putting this together? I found an answer on the final page:

“Just how did we get 5,000 awesome facts about animals into this book? First, we came up with a list of all kinds of critters and their cool and crazy habits, habitats, and traits: from hovering hummingbirds and precious pets to burying beetles and gigantic gorillas, from creatures that swim in the sea to those that fly high. Then we figured out how to fit all these facts about Earth’s amazing animals on the pages. It was kind of like doing a jigsaw puzzle! Some topics have 15 facts. Some have 25. Some even have 100! We carefully researched each and every fact to make sure it’s absolutely true. And we illustrated and designed the pages so well that you’ll never want to stop looking at them. Then we added up all the facts to get to 5,000. It didn’t take 5,000 people to make this awesome book—but it did take a colossal crew of writers, editors, photo editors, and designers—the most awesome book team around!”

Wow! The making of this creative endeavor didn’t happen overnight. 5000 AWESOME FACTS (About Animals!) is a great gift for any middle grade reader.

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Coming up next week is another edition of MARVELOUS MIDDLE GRADE MONDAY! It’s here I share highlights from other individuals blogging about middle grade books. Many will have reviews, interviews, and tips on writing. Take a look at PAST MMGM POSTS.

It’s easy to join the lineup. All you have to do is email me the title of the book or feature and a link to your blog at gpcolo[at]gmail[dot]com

Make sure you put MMGM or Marvelous Middle Grade Monday in the subject line so it gets sorted accurately–and don’t forget to say what you’re featuring) You MUST email me your link by Sunday evening (11 PM Eastern Time) in order to be included in the list of links for the coming Monday.

*Please note: these posts are not a reflection of my own opinions on the books featured. Each blogger is responsible for their own MMGM content and I do not pre-screen reviews ahead of time, nor do I control what books they choose. I simply assemble the list based on the links that are emailed to me.