# In praise of How & Why Wonder Books, a nerdchild's best friend **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753 "2003-04-01T17:59:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/1 "2003-04-01T17:59:56Z")
Yes, I was a science nerd as a child in the 60’s. I had a collection of about a dozen “How & Why Wonder Books.” Remember them? Large colorful softcover books about 1/4 inch thick devoted to a single topic and aimed at the grammar school set. Let’s see, I had Chemistry, Weather, Electricity, Robots and Computers, Science Experiments and several others I can’t recall. I must have read each one about a thousand times over. I spoke to a friend in the publishing world today. She said the publisher of H&WWB went belly-up in the 80’s. [Frownie.] So, who else was a devoted fan of How & Why Wonder Books? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/2 "2003-04-01T18:13:59Z")
I was! I was! Man - I _loved_ those books. They were cheap and Mom could buy them for next to nothing - at the grocery store even! I had ones on Dinosaurs, Astronomy, various Historical periods, plants, fish. I read those darn things about 20 - 30 times each. Just burned that stuff into my brain. I loved their (IIRC - it’s been 30+ years) FAQ layout. Great memory, **stuyguy** - thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/3 "2003-04-01T18:20:47Z")
I loved 'em. I had quite a few. Recently, when my aunt sold her house, we found a trove of them down there, and brought them back for my 5-year-old daughter. There was a similar series, not as well known, the **Saalfield Science Series** , just about the same size and format. And, if you haven’t seen them, try to locate the books **Science Made Stupid** and **Cvltvre Made Stupid** , written and illustrated by Tom Weller in the style og How and Why books – hilarious parodies. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/4 "2003-04-01T18:55:57Z")
I had several dozen, and still do in the attic. I hope to hand them down to my daughter in a few years (she’s three now) and hopefully carry forward the nerd tradition, even if some of the science is a bit outmoded. I also have the hardcover anthology “Tell Me Why” and “Answer Book” series. Fine sources for non-fiction bedtime stories: “Just one more, Daddy?” “Allright… Here’s how a pulp mill operates.” ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/5 "2003-04-01T18:58:18Z")
Ahh, our library was well-stocked with these! I also liked the * * * |Let’s Read| |And Find| |Out\> Books 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/6 "2003-04-01T19:15:00Z")
Yup. Another one here. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/7 "2003-04-01T20:26:16Z")
Good lord. They had those on your side of the pond too? I remember them well … my sister and I had a whole pile of them. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-how-why-wonder-books-a-nerdchilds-best-friend/165753/8 "2003-04-02T00:38:24Z")
Oh “Tell Me Why”, unbelievable! Also, what “What makes it Go, What makes it work, what makes it fly, what makes it float” -another fantastic book.