A Compendium of Curious Contraptions: A Guessing Game About History's Most Unusual Artefacts

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Anna Goldfield Paula Zamudio

A Compendium of Curious Contraptions

A Guessing Game About History's Most Unusual Artefacts

Anna Goldfield, Paula Zamudio, Neon Squid

$17

Hardback

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English

NEON SQUID
01 September 2025

Children's & Educational; General knowledge & trivia (Children's&YA); Science & technology: general interest (Children's&YA)

The book features mystery items from the past, with a set of clues as to what each one was used for. Readers can take a guess before unfolding a giant flap to reveal the answer. Without giving too much away, the book contains Inuit snow goggles, designed to protect eyes from the blinding glare of the ice, an ancient Chinese earthquake detector featuring several metal frogs, and err.. the Royal fistula - an item used to perform delicate surgery on the rear end of King Louis XIV of France.

By: Anna Goldfield, Neon Squid
Illustrated by: Paula Zamudio
Imprint: NEON SQUID
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 280mm, Width: 228mm,
ISBN: 9781916745032
ISBN 10: 1916745032
Pages: 64
Publication Date: 01 September 2025
Recommended Age: From 8 to 10 years
Audience: Children/juvenile , English as a second language
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Anna Goldfield is a podcaster, science writer, illustrator, and archaeologist. Anna works on the kids' science podcast Brains On! and presents the popular archaeology podcast The Dirt. Anna is also the author of The Mind-Blowing World of Extraordinary Competitions by Neon Squid.

Reviews for A Compendium of Curious Contraptions: A Guessing Game About History's Most Unusual Artefacts

""Young readers can practise being archaeologists with this collection of enigmatic objects from history... Once they’ve made their guess, readers can lift a flap to find the answer, such as an ancient Roman oil lamp or an ancient Chinese earthquake detector. This interactive nonfiction offering turns STEM into high-interest detective work."" * Booklist *