@Ripleys #BelieveItorNot #MindBlown #giveaway

It's always a fun surprise to open the door, and see a Ripley's Believe It or Not! book waiting, for us to open it. 

My boys were arguing about who was going to get the book, for Christmas. Ha! I said, "Neither one of you is getting it. I'm going to hold off, and give it to your cousin Edison. He doesn't have one yet. In the meantime look at it, and take it all in."

I'm glad to know at 12 and 15 years old they still love Ripley's Believe It or Not! Who am I kidding?! Even I like to look at their books, and go to their museums. They are wild, fun, historic, and captivating.

About Mind Blown!

• It has 256 pages
• It has 1,200 stories that are new and around the world
• It's packed full with colorful pictures, and great typography

This gives you a quick view of what's inside this fun read:

If my coffee table was clear, this would be the book I'd put on it. Sorry/not sorry, but it's filled with garden produce right now. 

I like to learn about crazy art, funky animals, and odd places to visit.

Who wouldn't want a folded fire breathing dragon, or a turtle that has a heart showing through his/her shell? 

I'd rather go to a Radish Festival, Carnival of Yetis, Urban Waterfall building, or a Cartoon Cafe more than most concerts or any rally.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! has all kinds of crazy events to share.

I think it would be spooky cool to go to Ouija Zilla. As a kid every adult told me to stay away from an Ouija Board. Playing with one seemed much more appealing because it was the forbidden game. 

I'm ok with bugs, but I don't know that I could have them crawling all over my face. A food beard would be ok though. 

True story...when I went to Kansas City Art Institute I had a whole class on making clothing out of paper. Some of the sculptures in this book remind me of that. 

I love sculptures where it all comes together at a certain view point!

I never knew how I felt about animals being messed with, but these pets look pretty happy.

It's giveaway time! One US reader will win Ripley's Believe It or Not! Mind Blown! If you want to buy a copy you can get it here, for $17.49.

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Disclaimer: All opinions in this post are my own. Ripley's Believe It or Not! sent me a free book to help with this review.

@Ripleys Believe It or Not! 100 Best Bions #bookreview

I love the the oddities that exist in this world! Ripley's Believe It or Not! just came out with 100 Best Bions. It's filled with believe it or not stories. They are incredibly hard to believe, and undeniable true!

The book is $16.34 on Amazon Prime.

Believe it or not they got the book to me so fast. It's like I agreed to review it, and poof it was on my doorstep.

The word Best is printed with a silver foil print.

Chapters:

1. Classics
2. People
3. Animals
4. World
5. Exhibits

Just like the title, there are 100 stories to read about! 


I picked out some of my favorite pages to share with you. 

Matchstick Man

Patrick Acton of Gladbrook, Iowa is the artist of these amazing creations. I'm drawn to them because I have used toothpicks in my art. I find them fun!

Skull Cups

A "Kapala" is a bowl used by Tibetan Buddhists and Indian Hindus in rituals. I'm not big into rituals, but I do love Buddhism philosophy. Skulls are interesting to me , just like masks are.

Phuket Vegetarian Festival

I think I'd pass on going to a festival that has self mutilation. What about you? This festival happens annually in Thailand.

Bound Feet

I remember hearing about bound feet when I was a kid. Boy did it look painful! For centuries, upper-class Chinese women would undergo the painful ritual. I've never seen what their actual feet look like.

Tough Tortoise

I heard if a tortoise lost it's shell it would in fact die. What if a hippopotamus tusk is sticking through the shell? This tortoise lived for 15 years like this!

Sketchy Artist

I think I'm jealous! I could never draw with an Etch-A-Scketch well at all! Could you? George Vlosich can create detailed drawings with one. Each image takes 80 hours to draw using one unbroken line.

Serious Stache

I just saw an article on facebook that goes on and on about how beards and mustaches have more germs than a dog's fur does. Hummm... Possibly it's because some people do not wash their stache! For the record Travis washes his with soap and water.

Could you imagine having an 8 feet, 8 inches wide stache!? That seems a bit crazy. I think I'd have mine braided all the time.

Strange Mail

This grabbed by attention because we write lists, and sketch on junk mail all the time. In 1929 alone, Robert Ripley received a million letters, breaking all known records for mail received by one person. Something's telling me he didn't read it all.

Headless Chicken

It's true Isaak really has a hard time eating chicken with the bones showing. I wonder what he'd feel about this headless chicken? This bird was meant to die, but he lived. Farmer Lloyd Olsen fed it through an eyedropper.

Double Vision

I like creepy faces, so why not like this double eyed guy named Liu Ch'ung? He was born with double pupils. Not his fault.

Mule-Faced Woman

Grace McDaniels was born in 1888 in Iowa, with a birthmark that would define her career.

Do you have any birthmarks? I have a small hole at the top of my ear, I was born with a skin tag on my leg that was removed when I was a baby, and I had the deviated septum. Mica had a cherry red birthmark between his eyebrows (it was fairly light), he had a cyst under his tongue, so the line down his tongue will forever not be straight, and Isaak has a brown birthmark on his spine.

Stretched Necks

Despite appearances, their necks are not actually stretched. It's their shoulders that have been pushed down.

Gurning Man

I remember this man from my Ripley's Believe It or Not! book from when I was a kid. I thought...Wow I wish I could do that!

Severed Skulls

This is so odd! In the University of Lisbon in Portugal, you can see the severed head of a genuine serial killer. Doesn't it give you the creeps? 

I like that they made a book that's paperback. It doesn't take up as much room as the hardback books. 

Do you enjoy oddities? 

Disclaimer: I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review. The Ripley's Believe It or Not! team did not tell me what to say in this review. 

#backtoschool Giveaway With @Ripleys Believe It or Not!

Ripley's celebrates 100 years of strange!

I'm super excited to share with you Ripley's Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange! It's all new. 

About:

• It's packed full of 256 colorful pages, with crazy interesting stories.
• The hardcover book is bigger than most books. It's 9x11 3/4 inches.
• They use both an engraved foil and embossing with special ink for the cover.

Demographics:

For ages 10 and up! Although My boys started enjoying Ripley's Believe It or Not! when they were about 8 years old. I have to say that I like to look through the Ripley's Believe It or Not! books as well.

ISBN Number: 

978-1-60991-217-8

Price:

$28.95 in the US and $34.95 in Canada

Some Pages That Jumped Out to Me:

Mica would LOVE to visit this book temple! Who wouldn't? It's so cool! When I was in grad school in Savannah, GA they had books that were pillars that held up their bookstore. I thought it was so cool. Having a whole temple made of books is beyond cool!

I loved the double page spread about pop culture. Images made with junk, and brightly colored. Isaak I know would love this. It's a movement inspired by artist Roy Lichtenstein.

The Asaro Mud Men are fun. They are from Papua New Guinea's eastern highlands are known for their ghoulish clay masks adorned with pigs' teeth and shells. Considering the fact that Isaak couldn't get enough mud on his body at camp this summer, I think he'd like this story.

Silvesterklaus is a masked person taking part in Saint Sylvester's Day festivities in Appenzell, Switzerland. I've always been drawn to masks. These are traditions, but also art pieces in my mind.

We have a Windmill Park in Nebraska, but it looks nothing like the image below. The Windmill Park below is colorful, and fun!

Hairplay is so interesting. This artist does all kinds of fun things with their hair. They make their hair look like shadows, trees, reflections, and more.

The living ghosts of Benin walk around with body guards. If you have contact with them, you could die. Yikes! They are interesting, and unlike anything I'd heard of before.

It's time for a Ripley's Believe It or Not! A Century of Strange! Giveaway. This giveaway is for someone within the US. No PO boxes please. You need to be over the age of 18 to enter. 

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Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Sharkee and the Teddy Bear, Bremner and the Party Books @Ripleys Review

Reading to small kids is so important. It helps them develop a love for reading and art.

Recently Ripley's Believe It or Not! introduced two new beginner reader books to the market. My kids are past the age for these books, but they are still fun to look at. They are best for ages 3 to about 6. These books are a quick read.

I like Ripley's Believe It or Not! is adding this new line of books.

Both books use the illustrations of Ripley cartoonist John Graziano. They are written by Carrie Bolin and Jessica Firpi.

About Both Books:

• They should be in the stores now. The release date was April 10, and on sale May 1
• There are 40 pages in each book
• They are 8.2"x11.3", almost the size of typical printer paper, which is 8.5"x11"
• Text is simple, easy to read, and there's a good amount of contrast from the pages to the text. That's what I found difficult when my kids were little - some text is hard to read at night because there's little to no contrast from the text to the background. These books are easy to read! Part of me wished that there wasn't a band on the Sharkee and the Teddy Bear book, and they would have just bled the background to put type over.

The first one is Ripley's Believe It or Not! Sharkee and the Teddy Bear

About the Book:

• If you are looking to buy it the ISBN: 978-1-60991-208-6
• Cute images. 
• It's about a shark that loses his teddy bear. A fish tries to help Sharkee find his teddy bear, but it's a challenge because they are not that helpful.  

The second book is Ripley's Believe it or Not! Bremner and the Party

About the Book:

• If you are looking to buy it the ISBN: 978-1-60991-209-3
• Cute images
• This book is about a fish that is worried to go to a party because it feels like it will become a blowfish, and won't fit in. When he finally gets up the courage to go in he realizes that all the fish are blowfish. They can all have a good time. 

These books do have fun messages and illustrations. 

Disclaimer: I received two board books from Ripley's Believe It or Not! to assist with this review. I wrote this post, and was not influenced at all with an opinion. I only review things that I find interesting, or that would benefit my readers or family.