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

Ages 8 to 10

Guess what some of the most unusual objects from history were used for in this book by archaeologist Anna Goldfield!

An illustrated guide to some of the most bizarre objects from history by archaeologist Anna Goldfield, including a guessing game for kids to play!

Each page contains a mystery item from the past, with a set of clues and red herrings as to what it 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.

Kids will delight in trying to work out the purpose of the beautiful objects, brought to life by Mexican illustrator Paula Zamudio, and will learn a lot about the cultures that created them—from ancient Rome to Polynesia, and Mesopotamia to Viking Scandinavia.

About the Author

Anna Goldfield is a podcaster, science writer, illustrator, archaeologist, and creator of all sorts of content to introduce people to the study of the world around us and its past. 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.

Paula Zamudio is an illustrator born and raised in the south of Mexico. She’s loved drawing from the moment she first held a pencil, and as a child was inspired by fantasy and adventure picture books as well as anime. Paula loves making art with special care for texture, color and gesture, and she is inspired by nature, fashion from different eras, fantasy, antiques, and her two cats.e Dirt.