Families who loved Special Edition 2014 by Ripley's Believe It or Not! often look for books with a similar feel. These 20 recommendations were selected for their similarity in style, theme, and reading level.
Reach for this book when you have a reluctant reader who is easily bored by traditional stories but can spend hours poring over strange facts and surprising visuals. This Special Edition collection is a gateway to reading that leverages a child's natural curiosity about the world's most unusual people, animals, and events. It transforms reading from a chore into an act of discovery. The book compiles hundreds of bite-sized anecdotes and high-interest photographs that explore the limits of the human body, weird animal behaviors, and bizarre historical events. While it leans into the gross-out humor and spectacle that 7-12 year olds find hilarious, it also subtly teaches science and geography. It is an ideal tool for building vocabulary and general knowledge in a way that feels like pure entertainment rather than a lesson.