June 16, 2023 • 15 mins
Maria chats with Senior Editor Ariane Szu-Tu about the ALL NEW National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024. A great way to keep your kids (and you as well cuz I'm fascinated by these facts!) interested this summer. Lotsa fun animal facts, nature, science, games and a challenge too!
Pick up a copy at kids.nationalgeographic.com!
Pick up a copy at kids.nationalgeographic.com!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. Whata great idea I heard radio Welcome to
Maria's MutS and Stuff and with me, I'm so excited. It's Arian Zoo
two and she is the senior editorfor National Geographic Kids Books. So Arian,
(00:22):
thank you for checking in with me. I'm excited about the Almanac twenty
twenty four. Thank you so muchfor having me, and I'm excited to
talk about it absolutely, So tellme, um, I know, this
is a yearly thing that Nacio Kidsdoes and puts out and it's perfect timing
because you know, the summertime iscoming and with the Kids Almanac, it's
(00:47):
perfect for you know, for kidsto not get lazy over the summer,
right that they will have this almanacsfilled with so many fascinating facts. So
how long did it take to putthis whole an act together? Oh my
goodness. Well, Um, weput out an almanac every year, so
it really takes pretty much, Imean other than like you know, shipping
(01:10):
the book, I mean, youknow takes back. It takes almost a
full year to put it together.So you know, we really it's a
team effort. We've got fact checkers, we've got our photo editor, our
designer, UM and we pour overevery page and it keeps us up an
up at night, you know,worrying about getting a fact wrong sore.
So that's a big deal to us. And we've got lots of like population
(01:33):
figures and sets the update. Wewe add information about new species, um.
You know, we add we've gotinformation about space and technology and history
in here. So there's really somethingfor everyone. And I think you're absolutely
right when you said, you knowthat this is perfect for summer, perfect
timing, you know, for summer, because if there's any you know,
child in your life who's going upto summer camp for example, or you
(01:55):
know, I don't know what kindof kinds of plans everyone has for the
summer, but it is absolutely perfectfor road trips, for plane rids,
for for just sitting around the houseand entertaining, having your kid be entertained.
Yeah, there are some of yourparents types of quizzes in here too,
And you know, I will say, you know, I think parents
will actually be really fascinated by alot of the cool facts and stats in
(02:20):
here. So if your kid isgoing, if they're the type of kid
who goes mom's dad guess what ordid you know? You know, I
actually think that kids or death parentswill not be you know, this won't
get annoying because there actually is somuch information in here that's so mind blowing,
that's so so cool, it's true, and then with so many amazing
photos to match, and like yousaid, there were games. I mean,
(02:40):
I'm not a kid, and I'mlike reading through it and going I
didn't know that, Oh that's socool. Yeah, so I could definitely,
you know, I mean it's goodfor kids, but I can also
see adults enjoying this, like takingit to the beach over the summer,
to the pool and just going throughsome fun facts because it's really so chock
full. So I know you dothis every year. Um, so I'm
(03:02):
sure now because it takes so long, you're probably getting stuff together for next
year. How do you decide?Because I also know that you add new
facts. So when you are like, say you're working on next year's dr
which you are, right of course, So are you still like are you
(03:23):
using some of the same information andadding to it or keeping or doing all
new stuff? Like I'm sure thatisn't like a crazy process, Like how
does that work for each each almanacbecause they are different, right but right
right, but we we do havesome same information across the different almanacs.
So this has been going on,um vince about twenty twelve, UM and
(03:46):
you know or sorry twenty ten.Actually, UM, it's even older than
that. So UM, you knowhow we go about updating this, how
we go about adding new sections.UM. You know, it's it's a
total you know, collaborative process.UM. And so we really start we
start up with an outline, UM, and we map out the book as
it stands, and then we lookat it and we think about, you
(04:10):
know, what kind of information wewant to add for example, new discoveries,
new species discoveries, new didnus oryou know discoveries stuff like that,
new new medical advancements. I mean, we want to include sure, you
know, the whole gamut of things, anything kids might find interesting. UM.
And of course we want to updateinformation. We want to give it
a refresh so everything is is accurateand up to date, you know,
(04:32):
like I mentioned before, population uhsizes, you know, anything that may
have changed on about our planets overthe last year. You know, for
example, you know, Pluto losingplanets status that was a big deal in
our corner of the world because youknow, we knew that we had to
update information, so you know,it really you know, over the course
(04:54):
of the year, um, youknow, our entire team, I mean,
but the editor in particular, likemyself, we we sort of pocket
away cool headlines, cool information thatwe think kids will find really interesting.
And when it comes time to updatethe almanac, we revisit that folder and
we start looking through it. Wecombed through a whole vast array of different
(05:15):
sources, scientific articles, anything weknow has kind of shaken up the scientific
community, you know, because wework very closely with different scientists and different
experts. We pull people, weask them questions, you know, and
we also pull our readers. Weask them what kinds of things they're interested
in. And the kids, theylove providing feedback. They love fans what
they think, and so they youknow, they this book is really a
(05:40):
compendium of their favorite stuff. Andit really was born out of you know,
the Nagio Kids, sorry, theNagio Kids magazine, which we've been
publishing for a long time, andso this top scoring sections from the magazine,
you know, helped create this almanac, which is just like I said,
it's a hodgepodge and what, likeyou said, a hodgepodge of them
amazing mind blowing things with scot quizzes. It's got games, it's got sort
(06:03):
of like these you know, funnyso in type things. Um, it's
got so many, so many coolfacts and staffs about our world. Absolutely.
Do you have a favorite section,like a favorite Yeah, I guess
section or challenge? Yes, Ido. Okay, Well, I love
animals and our I think our kidreaders tend to like animals too, Yeah
(06:25):
you do also, of course.Yeah, we've so we've got this amazing
animals section and in a section we'vegot animal rescues. We've got really cool
facts about different animals, and they'rereally really cool adaptations. Um, some
of this stuff is like it's likesomething out of a science fiction novel.
I mean, I guess maybe sciencefiction actually borrows stuff from real life.
(06:46):
Sure, I mean, I don'teven know. It was just it's so
incredible how wild our planet is currentlyand actually has been historically. Like if
you know, read about dinosaurs,for example, there's just so much cool
information in here. So my favoritesection is the animal section. But I
will say another in section that's nearand dear to my heart is the Kids
(07:08):
Versus Plastic section because I actually helpedit the nazew Kids book called Kids Versus
Plastic, and I you know,in that section we kind of we give
kids kind of an overview of thestate of plastic on our planet and also
ways in which they can make abig difference to cut down on a plastic
use in their daily lives, whichis perfect because you know, it's the
(07:30):
old saying from the mouths of babes, but it's really, you know,
to me, kids are like sponges, you know, they absorb this information.
And for everyone who blames like oldergenerations for the state of the planet,
well yeah, but also exactly oursolution is with younger people to do
something and to save the planet.So it's so perfect that you have that
(07:51):
chapter. You know, it's justit can't be more perfect than that,
because they're the ones who are goingto save the planet. I mean,
we can all be saving the planet. We are trying to do our part,
but they are the future. Soit's perfect, absolutely true. Yeah,
and you know that's one of thethings that we highlight in the Natio
Kids twenty twenty four Almanac. Wehighlight some of the amazing work from some
(08:16):
of our explorers and UM. Thisyear's challenge actually the Almanac Challenge, because
we've got a challenge every year wherewe invite kids to engage with our brands
and with you know, with theAlmanac, UM. And so kids can
go to Nacio kids dot com slashAlmanac and figure out you know, they
can see the rules of the competitionthere. But basically we're highlighting the incredible
(08:39):
work of one of our Natio grantees. Her name is Dominique and Salvis,
and she's very young, UM.And she grew up in Mozambique, and
she grew up seeing elephants, youknow, in her home country, and
she became fascinated by them, andshe realized that, you know, they
are these incredibly complex creatures and youknow, sciences, scientific studies are coming
up saying that suggesting that elephants expressemotions, They have really deep, powerful
(09:05):
emotions. They can become incredibly bondedto they're young and to each other.
And so she realized that elephants inher home country needed her help because they
were under threat from poaching. Youknow, if people poach them for their
ivory and So this year's Almanac challengeis asking kids to create and imagine social
(09:26):
media page for an elephant. SoI's not creating a real social media page.
We want kids to get away fromscreens as much as as much as
possible as a summer. But ifyou go to Imagine Kids dot com slash
Almanac, you'll see a template thatthey can use for creating this imagined social
media page, and you can nameyour elephant. You can include a profile
picture, and you can include youknow, like, um, what are
(09:50):
the issues that elephant would care about? What would they be saying, what
would they be what would be topof mind? Um, what's their favorite
food, what's their favorite color?You know, you can get creative with
it and get Tennis, Sillian funand then m are the the top entry.
So you can submit your entry tous. Um it is going to
be featured in the Natio Kids twentytwenty five Almanac, which, um,
(10:13):
like you mentioned previously, I'm actuallyalready working on right right, yeah,
because I'm actually looking at this year'schallenge, and then this year's almanac that
we're talking about has the winner oflast year's challenge, and that was to
imagine yourself as a tree. Thisis so cool, so great for a
kid. Yes, yeah, andwe got so many entries. You know,
(10:33):
congrats to Adam, Adam and Abbeyfor being um the winners that are
featured in the Natio Kids twenty twentyfour Almanac. And you know, they
really had some crazy it's some reallyreally cool competition, um, you know,
because we got we got entries fromall over the world and oak apparently
so we ask its you know,like you mentioned, to imagine themselves as
a tree. Oak was far andaway the most popular entry, but we
(10:56):
also got really wild, you knowentries like some were you know, Banian
trees, Baobab trees, Jacaranda treesand so those very very cool to see
the incredible diversity that you know,kids submit it and we've got some really
cool entries. But congrats to Adamand Abby absolutely. And I'm excited about
(11:16):
this year's challenge because you know,I love reading it and learning more and
more about elephants and the fact thatyou know they are so endangered because of
poachers in their ivory. I mean, it's just heartbreaking. On top of
the fact that elephants are just sosmart, so the fact that that is
your challenge is just so perfect,Like the timing, it's just so perfect
in so many ways. Yes,there's still so much that we don't know
(11:39):
about them, and it's incredible.You know, we I think, you
know, in twenty twenty three,we think that we know so much about
our planet. We think there's nothingleft to discover, you know, I
know, you know, I've beenan editor with Natio Kids in twenty twelve,
and even sometimes in my job,I think, oh, I know
all the cool facts about animals thereare to know, and right then I've
proven wrong. The job either Ilearned something new every day, and you
(12:03):
know, there's still so much toexplore. And I think that's one of
the really cool things about Natzio Kidsproducts is that they ignite curiosity. They
get kids thinking about our world andrealizing what they're passionate about and what they
want to study them day and learnmore about. Sure, sure, I
mean, honestly, I feel likethe Almanac not only inspires kids, but
(12:24):
probably helps them decide what they wantto be when they grow up. And
hopefully it's something that has to dowith nature and the environment. And you
know, because we need more andmore people like that, so I really
feel like, you know, NatzioKids Almanac twenty twenty four is a great
inspiration to help kids with that.Yes, that's that's absolutely our hope and
(12:45):
our aim, and you know it'sit's always to bring the world the kid's
fingertips and get them, you know, spark their curiosity, get them thinking
about about the planet. And theydo. I mean, the they are
just like you said, they're spongesand they get so enthusiastic, I think
about so many different things than beautifulto watch. Absolutely, and also they
could help their parents because maybe iftheir parents get a little lazy, because
(13:07):
that's sometimes that happens, you know, they can be they can inspire their
parents to you know, recycle alittle bit more mom and dad and stuff
like that due to the almanac andshow, you know, teaching them facts.
So I just have to tell you, and then I want to ask
you. So, I actually haveone of the grossest things I learned in
your almanac, and it's that peoplein Cambodia eat deep fried tarantulas. Because
(13:31):
tarantulas just really freak me out.So the fact that there's a picture of
a deep fried tarantula, I'm like, oh my goodness. I could never
imagine that. Do you have like, oh my goodness, that's so gross
fact in your almanac growth fac youknow? I there is one. I
don't know how gross it is,per se, but it was kind of
mind blowing. There's a type ofbeetle that actually shoots acid out of its
(13:56):
bottom at predators. Wow. Idon't know that that's a gross per se.
I thought it was really fascinating.It's fascinating. Yes, it's fascinating
a little bit gross, right ifyou're standing near the Beatle, even though
it probably wouldn't shoot it at usbecause we're too big for it, right,
But yeah, that can go forgross. I get that. Yeah,
(14:18):
there's so much stuff in here,and definitely, you know, if
there's a kid in your life wholoves gross stuff, there's a lot of
stuff in here, I'm sure.Um, you know, there's just they're
just totally wild animal facts that arejust mind blowing. Yeah, it's very
cool. No, you did anexcellent job. I love it. I
mean, you know, I'm nota kid, and I'm loving it.
And I didn't read the whole thingyet, but I plan to, so
(14:39):
so where can my listeners um pickit? Up. Where can they get
it? Sure? Um so yourfavorite local bookstore, really wherever books are
sold on you know, Barnes andNoble, Amazon as well. Um it's
it's it's out right now, andum it's really a perfect throw in your
backpack, throw in your in yoursuitcase for summer reading to a kid before
(15:01):
we're going on a long road trip. It's it's perfect for summer. It's
perfect to kids to keep you know, brains engaged over the summer. Absolutely
well, I love it, Andcongratulations on an excellent edition. Good luck,
because I know you're you're getting thenext one together, so I'll probably
talk with you this time next yearabout twenty twenty five. But Arian Zoo
two, thank you so much fortalking with me and sharing your facts,
(15:24):
and you know, I hear yourenthusiasm, you know, as you speak
about the Almanac, and I thinkthat's also part of what makes it so
excellent and so easier to read,because I know that you love what you're
doing and it comes through in theAlmanac. So thanks for that. Thank
you so much,
It's Maria's MutS and Stuff. Whata great idea I heard radio Welcome to
Maria's MutS and Stuff and with me, I'm so excited. It's Arian Zoo
two and she is the senior editorfor National Geographic Kids Books. So Arian,
(00:22):
thank you for checking in with me. I'm excited about the Almanac twenty
twenty four. Thank you so muchfor having me, and I'm excited to
talk about it absolutely, So tellme, um, I know, this
is a yearly thing that Nacio Kidsdoes and puts out and it's perfect timing
because you know, the summertime iscoming and with the Kids Almanac, it's
(00:47):
perfect for you know, for kidsto not get lazy over the summer,
right that they will have this almanacsfilled with so many fascinating facts. So
how long did it take to putthis whole an act together? Oh my
goodness. Well, Um, weput out an almanac every year, so
it really takes pretty much, Imean other than like you know, shipping
(01:10):
the book, I mean, youknow takes back. It takes almost a
full year to put it together.So you know, we really it's a
team effort. We've got fact checkers, we've got our photo editor, our
designer, UM and we pour overevery page and it keeps us up an
up at night, you know,worrying about getting a fact wrong sore.
So that's a big deal to us. And we've got lots of like population
(01:33):
figures and sets the update. Wewe add information about new species, um.
You know, we add we've gotinformation about space and technology and history
in here. So there's really somethingfor everyone. And I think you're absolutely
right when you said, you knowthat this is perfect for summer, perfect
timing, you know, for summer, because if there's any you know,
child in your life who's going upto summer camp for example, or you
(01:55):
know, I don't know what kindof kinds of plans everyone has for the
summer, but it is absolutely perfectfor road trips, for plane rids,
for for just sitting around the houseand entertaining, having your kid be entertained.
Yeah, there are some of yourparents types of quizzes in here too,
And you know, I will say, you know, I think parents
will actually be really fascinated by alot of the cool facts and stats in
(02:20):
here. So if your kid isgoing, if they're the type of kid
who goes mom's dad guess what ordid you know? You know, I
actually think that kids or death parentswill not be you know, this won't
get annoying because there actually is somuch information in here that's so mind blowing,
that's so so cool, it's true, and then with so many amazing
photos to match, and like yousaid, there were games. I mean,
(02:40):
I'm not a kid, and I'mlike reading through it and going I
didn't know that, Oh that's socool. Yeah, so I could definitely,
you know, I mean it's goodfor kids, but I can also
see adults enjoying this, like takingit to the beach over the summer,
to the pool and just going throughsome fun facts because it's really so chock
full. So I know you dothis every year. Um, so I'm
(03:02):
sure now because it takes so long, you're probably getting stuff together for next
year. How do you decide?Because I also know that you add new
facts. So when you are like, say you're working on next year's dr
which you are, right of course, So are you still like are you
(03:23):
using some of the same information andadding to it or keeping or doing all
new stuff? Like I'm sure thatisn't like a crazy process, Like how
does that work for each each almanacbecause they are different, right but right
right, but we we do havesome same information across the different almanacs.
So this has been going on,um vince about twenty twelve, UM and
(03:46):
you know or sorry twenty ten.Actually, UM, it's even older than
that. So UM, you knowhow we go about updating this, how
we go about adding new sections.UM. You know, it's it's a
total you know, collaborative process.UM. And so we really start we
start up with an outline, UM, and we map out the book as
it stands, and then we lookat it and we think about, you
(04:10):
know, what kind of information wewant to add for example, new discoveries,
new species discoveries, new didnus oryou know discoveries stuff like that,
new new medical advancements. I mean, we want to include sure, you
know, the whole gamut of things, anything kids might find interesting. UM.
And of course we want to updateinformation. We want to give it
a refresh so everything is is accurateand up to date, you know,
(04:32):
like I mentioned before, population uhsizes, you know, anything that may
have changed on about our planets overthe last year. You know, for
example, you know, Pluto losingplanets status that was a big deal in
our corner of the world because youknow, we knew that we had to
update information, so you know,it really you know, over the course
(04:54):
of the year, um, youknow, our entire team, I mean,
but the editor in particular, likemyself, we we sort of pocket
away cool headlines, cool information thatwe think kids will find really interesting.
And when it comes time to updatethe almanac, we revisit that folder and
we start looking through it. Wecombed through a whole vast array of different
(05:15):
sources, scientific articles, anything weknow has kind of shaken up the scientific
community, you know, because wework very closely with different scientists and different
experts. We pull people, weask them questions, you know, and
we also pull our readers. Weask them what kinds of things they're interested
in. And the kids, theylove providing feedback. They love fans what
they think, and so they youknow, they this book is really a
(05:40):
compendium of their favorite stuff. Andit really was born out of you know,
the Nagio Kids, sorry, theNagio Kids magazine, which we've been
publishing for a long time, andso this top scoring sections from the magazine,
you know, helped create this almanac, which is just like I said,
it's a hodgepodge and what, likeyou said, a hodgepodge of them
amazing mind blowing things with scot quizzes. It's got games, it's got sort
(06:03):
of like these you know, funnyso in type things. Um, it's
got so many, so many coolfacts and staffs about our world. Absolutely.
Do you have a favorite section,like a favorite Yeah, I guess
section or challenge? Yes, Ido. Okay, Well, I love
animals and our I think our kidreaders tend to like animals too, Yeah
(06:25):
you do also, of course.Yeah, we've so we've got this amazing
animals section and in a section we'vegot animal rescues. We've got really cool
facts about different animals, and they'rereally really cool adaptations. Um, some
of this stuff is like it's likesomething out of a science fiction novel.
I mean, I guess maybe sciencefiction actually borrows stuff from real life.
(06:46):
Sure, I mean, I don'teven know. It was just it's so
incredible how wild our planet is currentlyand actually has been historically. Like if
you know, read about dinosaurs,for example, there's just so much cool
information in here. So my favoritesection is the animal section. But I
will say another in section that's nearand dear to my heart is the Kids
(07:08):
Versus Plastic section because I actually helpedit the nazew Kids book called Kids Versus
Plastic, and I you know,in that section we kind of we give
kids kind of an overview of thestate of plastic on our planet and also
ways in which they can make abig difference to cut down on a plastic
use in their daily lives, whichis perfect because you know, it's the
(07:30):
old saying from the mouths of babes, but it's really, you know,
to me, kids are like sponges, you know, they absorb this information.
And for everyone who blames like oldergenerations for the state of the planet,
well yeah, but also exactly oursolution is with younger people to do
something and to save the planet.So it's so perfect that you have that
(07:51):
chapter. You know, it's justit can't be more perfect than that,
because they're the ones who are goingto save the planet. I mean,
we can all be saving the planet. We are trying to do our part,
but they are the future. Soit's perfect, absolutely true. Yeah,
and you know that's one of thethings that we highlight in the Natio
Kids twenty twenty four Almanac. Wehighlight some of the amazing work from some
(08:16):
of our explorers and UM. Thisyear's challenge actually the Almanac Challenge, because
we've got a challenge every year wherewe invite kids to engage with our brands
and with you know, with theAlmanac, UM. And so kids can
go to Nacio kids dot com slashAlmanac and figure out you know, they
can see the rules of the competitionthere. But basically we're highlighting the incredible
(08:39):
work of one of our Natio grantees. Her name is Dominique and Salvis,
and she's very young, UM.And she grew up in Mozambique, and
she grew up seeing elephants, youknow, in her home country, and
she became fascinated by them, andshe realized that, you know, they
are these incredibly complex creatures and youknow, sciences, scientific studies are coming
up saying that suggesting that elephants expressemotions, They have really deep, powerful
(09:05):
emotions. They can become incredibly bondedto they're young and to each other.
And so she realized that elephants inher home country needed her help because they
were under threat from poaching. Youknow, if people poach them for their
ivory and So this year's Almanac challengeis asking kids to create and imagine social
(09:26):
media page for an elephant. SoI's not creating a real social media page.
We want kids to get away fromscreens as much as as much as
possible as a summer. But ifyou go to Imagine Kids dot com slash
Almanac, you'll see a template thatthey can use for creating this imagined social
media page, and you can nameyour elephant. You can include a profile
picture, and you can include youknow, like, um, what are
(09:50):
the issues that elephant would care about? What would they be saying, what
would they be what would be topof mind? Um, what's their favorite
food, what's their favorite color?You know, you can get creative with
it and get Tennis, Sillian funand then m are the the top entry.
So you can submit your entry tous. Um it is going to
be featured in the Natio Kids twentytwenty five Almanac, which, um,
(10:13):
like you mentioned previously, I'm actuallyalready working on right right, yeah,
because I'm actually looking at this year'schallenge, and then this year's almanac that
we're talking about has the winner oflast year's challenge, and that was to
imagine yourself as a tree. Thisis so cool, so great for a
kid. Yes, yeah, andwe got so many entries. You know,
(10:33):
congrats to Adam, Adam and Abbeyfor being um the winners that are
featured in the Natio Kids twenty twentyfour Almanac. And you know, they
really had some crazy it's some reallyreally cool competition, um, you know,
because we got we got entries fromall over the world and oak apparently
so we ask its you know,like you mentioned, to imagine themselves as
a tree. Oak was far andaway the most popular entry, but we
(10:56):
also got really wild, you knowentries like some were you know, Banian
trees, Baobab trees, Jacaranda treesand so those very very cool to see
the incredible diversity that you know,kids submit it and we've got some really
cool entries. But congrats to Adamand Abby absolutely. And I'm excited about
(11:16):
this year's challenge because you know,I love reading it and learning more and
more about elephants and the fact thatyou know they are so endangered because of
poachers in their ivory. I mean, it's just heartbreaking. On top of
the fact that elephants are just sosmart, so the fact that that is
your challenge is just so perfect,Like the timing, it's just so perfect
in so many ways. Yes,there's still so much that we don't know
(11:39):
about them, and it's incredible.You know, we I think, you
know, in twenty twenty three,we think that we know so much about
our planet. We think there's nothingleft to discover, you know, I
know, you know, I've beenan editor with Natio Kids in twenty twelve,
and even sometimes in my job,I think, oh, I know
all the cool facts about animals thereare to know, and right then I've
proven wrong. The job either Ilearned something new every day, and you
(12:03):
know, there's still so much toexplore. And I think that's one of
the really cool things about Natzio Kidsproducts is that they ignite curiosity. They
get kids thinking about our world andrealizing what they're passionate about and what they
want to study them day and learnmore about. Sure, sure, I
mean, honestly, I feel likethe Almanac not only inspires kids, but
(12:24):
probably helps them decide what they wantto be when they grow up. And
hopefully it's something that has to dowith nature and the environment. And you
know, because we need more andmore people like that, so I really
feel like, you know, NatzioKids Almanac twenty twenty four is a great
inspiration to help kids with that.Yes, that's that's absolutely our hope and
(12:45):
our aim, and you know it'sit's always to bring the world the kid's
fingertips and get them, you know, spark their curiosity, get them thinking
about about the planet. And theydo. I mean, the they are
just like you said, they're spongesand they get so enthusiastic, I think
about so many different things than beautifulto watch. Absolutely, and also they
could help their parents because maybe iftheir parents get a little lazy, because
(13:07):
that's sometimes that happens, you know, they can be they can inspire their
parents to you know, recycle alittle bit more mom and dad and stuff
like that due to the almanac andshow, you know, teaching them facts.
So I just have to tell you, and then I want to ask
you. So, I actually haveone of the grossest things I learned in
your almanac, and it's that peoplein Cambodia eat deep fried tarantulas. Because
(13:31):
tarantulas just really freak me out.So the fact that there's a picture of
a deep fried tarantula, I'm like, oh my goodness. I could never
imagine that. Do you have like, oh my goodness, that's so gross
fact in your almanac growth fac youknow? I there is one. I
don't know how gross it is,per se, but it was kind of
mind blowing. There's a type ofbeetle that actually shoots acid out of its
(13:56):
bottom at predators. Wow. Idon't know that that's a gross per se.
I thought it was really fascinating.It's fascinating. Yes, it's fascinating
a little bit gross, right ifyou're standing near the Beatle, even though
it probably wouldn't shoot it at usbecause we're too big for it, right,
But yeah, that can go forgross. I get that. Yeah,
(14:18):
there's so much stuff in here,and definitely, you know, if
there's a kid in your life wholoves gross stuff, there's a lot of
stuff in here, I'm sure.Um, you know, there's just they're
just totally wild animal facts that arejust mind blowing. Yeah, it's very
cool. No, you did anexcellent job. I love it. I
mean, you know, I'm nota kid, and I'm loving it.
And I didn't read the whole thingyet, but I plan to, so
(14:39):
so where can my listeners um pickit? Up. Where can they get
it? Sure? Um so yourfavorite local bookstore, really wherever books are
sold on you know, Barnes andNoble, Amazon as well. Um it's
it's it's out right now, andum it's really a perfect throw in your
backpack, throw in your in yoursuitcase for summer reading to a kid before
(15:01):
we're going on a long road trip. It's it's perfect for summer. It's
perfect to kids to keep you know, brains engaged over the summer. Absolutely
well, I love it, Andcongratulations on an excellent edition. Good luck,
because I know you're you're getting thenext one together, so I'll probably
talk with you this time next yearabout twenty twenty five. But Arian Zoo
two, thank you so much fortalking with me and sharing your facts,
(15:24):
and you know, I hear yourenthusiasm, you know, as you speak
about the Almanac, and I thinkthat's also part of what makes it so
excellent and so easier to read,because I know that you love what you're
doing and it comes through in theAlmanac. So thanks for that. Thank
you so much,
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