The Encyclopedia of the Weird and Wonderful is a fascinating, accessible, and well curated collection of facts gathered by Milo Rossi. Released 3rd Oct 2023 by Quarto on their Wellfleet Press imprint, it's 256 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats.
This is an all-ages encyclopedia (mostly aimed at middle grades and older) chock full of interesting tidbits about human expansion and prehistory, innovation, natural history, and development. The chapters are arranged thematically: prehistory, food & drink, animal domestication, play & leisure, rites & rituals, love & sexuality (age appropriate), fashion & beauty, education & work, sickness & health, funerary rites (death). Each chapter has numerous short articles of a few paragraphs explaining interesting facets of social groups, traditions, and societies.
It's colorfully illustrated throughout. There are no photographs, but line drawings enhance the text (see cover art). The author/publisher have also provided a fairly comprehensive bibliography and references as well as a cross-referenced index.
Four stars. This would be a superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, home use, or gift giving.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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