It’s Books and Authors Week on Cool Weird Awesome

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This week we’re replaying some of our favorite shows about the printed page and those pages’ creators.

The dedication page of a book reads

Never Skip The Dedication Page Of A Book, They Can Get Wild

Aspiring authors and readers, don’t forget the dedication page. They can be full of surprises, as we discovered in quite a few books.


Wide-angle photo of the exterior of the New York Public Library building. (Photo by Alan Bloom via Flickr/Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/zKnmCJ)

A Big-Time Librarian Kept “Goodnight Moon” Off The Shelves For 25 Years

Despite being one of the most iconic children’s books of its time, the New York Public Library didn’t have a copy of “Goodnight Moon” for decades, because an influential librarian didn’t like it.


Walt Whitman portrait, 1891 (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution)

I Review The Body Electric

Walt Whitman is best known for his landmark work Leaves of Grass, but he’s also the guy who anonymously wrote glowing reviews of his own writing in the newspapers.


Pages of a book. (Photo by Nedra via Flickr/Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/SjJiUB)

Does A Book With 1,250 Endings Ever Really End?

Choose Your Own Adventure books could have dozens of possible endings. But a book from a celebrated Sri Lankan children’s author had a world record 1,250 endings!


Shelves and shelves of old books, at Cecil Court Bookshop. (Photo by Garry Knight via Flickr/Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/22jqiAZ)

Meet Some Of The Oldest Books Ever Found

An article from HowStuffWorks tries to answer a complicated question: “What is the oldest book in the world?”


Photo by Joanna Penn via Flickr/Creative Commons

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Food Companies Used To Send Out Playable Records On Cereal Boxes

Even kids who didn't like cereal wanted the boxes that included records from The Jackson 5, The Monkees and Bobby Sherman.

There’s A Pickup Truck On The Side Of A Building In The Dominican Republic

For the last three decades or so, the truck has been hanging five stories up on the side of a building.

King Louis XIV’s Chef Is Why Salt And Pepper Go Together At The Dinner Table

You could say salt and pepper are the peanut butter and chocolate of seasoning.

The US Military Once Tested Out A “Camel Corps”

In 1855 US lawmakers approved $30,000 for “the purchase of camels and the importation of dromedaries, to be employed for military purposes."

The Sound Of Music’s “Do Re Mi” Song Gets Very Different In Other Languages

In English, "Re" is "a drop of golden sun." But not in every language.

In Poland, Nothing Goes Better With Pasta Than Strawberries

If you think putting fruit on pasta is weird, here’s a question: what is a tomato?
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Brady Carlson
Brady Carlson
Brady Carlson is a writer and radio host from Madison, Wisconsin. more