They Did WHAT?! holds up a carnival funhouse mirror to the human race, showing us a hilarious reflection of foibles, flubs, and foolishness. Over the course of history we have achieved remarkable things: the Great Pyramids, space travel, and the World Wide Web — blue ribbons of humanity. But why not celebrate our eccentricities, our famous bloopers, the bits that have been edited out for so long: pet rocks, air guitar contests, and turkey-and-gravy soda. It’s time to embrace, not erase! Author Jeff Szpirglas takes a stand, and awards the booby prize to history’s most ridiculous fads, hoaxes, daredevils, advertising, urban legends, inventions, and more. They Did WHAT?! is a wild (and educational) ride!

 

 

JEFF SZPIRGLAS is the author of multiple books in the Countdown to Danger series. In addition to his choose-your-own-path titles, Jeff has written award-nominated non-fiction books and several terrifying novels and horror collections for middle-grade readers, including Tales from the Fringes of Fear and Tales from Beyond the Brain. With his wife, Danielle Saint-Onge, he is the co-author of the Orca Echoes books X Marks the Spot!, Something's Fishy and Messy Miranda. He's worked at CTV Television and was an editor at Chirp, chickaDEE and Owl magazines. He has twin children, two cats (the cats are not twins) and one dog. In his spare time, he teaches elementary school. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario. Visit him online at www.jeffszpirglas.com.

 

Jeff Szpirglas' profile page

DAVE WHAMOND a illustré la série Margot et My Think-a-ma-Jink, tous deux gagnants du prix Blue Spruce. Il a également signé les illustrations des livres de Robert Munsch Quelle tête!, C’est petit ici! et Je raffole de l’école!, et est l'auteur d'une bande dessinée intitulée Reality Check, qui paraît quotidiennement dans un certain nombre de journaux nord-américains. Dave habite à Calgary, en Alberta.

 

DAVE WHAMOND is the creator of Oddrey and My Think-a-ma-Jink, both winners of the Blue Spruce Award. He illustrated the Robert Munsch books Braids!, Think Big! and School Rules! He also has a syndicated cartoon strip called Reality Check, which appears daily in a number of North American newspapers. Dave lives in Calgary, Alberta.

Dave Whamond's profile page

• Commended, Canadian Toy Testing Council, Recommended Books
• Commended, Ontario Library Association, Silver Birch Award, Honor Book
• Short-listed, Atlantic Library Association, Hackmatack Children's Choice Award

…Jeff Szpirglas tickles our funny bone recounting the most outrageous stunts, fads and inventions in history…

Canadian Children’s Book News

Children who read this book will look at history and science with new enthusiasm and curiosity, and teachers will be able to demonstrate that history is not as boring as some may think.

School Library Journal

The layout and graphics are exceptional and marvelous. The drawings are colorful and humorous. There is an abundance of cartooning techniques that catch the eye and compliment the text. This is the type of book that the reader can feel a sense of satisfaction from reading for a few minutes or for hours and hours…This book is highly recommended for both schools and public libraries.

Resource Links

…Dave Whamond’s exaggerated cartoons…perfectly complement the silliness of Szpirglas’s text…[a] good kid-friendly choic[e] for engrossing leisure reading material

Quill & Quire

They Did What?! Your Guide to Weird & Wacky Things People Do

“We may live in a world that frowns upon flubs, but I’ll let you in on a secret: some blunders are beneficial. How would you know not to lick a metal pole in the middle of January if some brave kid hadn’t taught us all a lesson by freezing his tongue to one? It’s time to celebrate all of the tongue-to-frozen-pole folks out there. Trying something different and unusual for its own sake can reveal amazing insights about the universe we live in.”

In addition to celebrating accomplishments like the World Wide Web or the moon walk, Jeff Szpirglas feels we should commemorate our blunders as well in his latest book – They Did What?! Your Guide to Weird & Wacky Things People Do.

Aimed at ages eight to 12, Szpirglas tickles our funny bone recounting the most outrageous stunts, fads and inventions in history like pet rocks or seeing how many people one can stuff in a phone booth.

A follow-up to Szpirglas’ last book, the both popular and disgusting Gross Universe, the teacher and student characters are back helping us understand the foolishness of a humanity that can produce lifechanging penicillin as well as turkeyflavoured soda pop.