100,000 Whys for Curious Adults: Christmas Edition

About this book

Why isn't December 25 the winter solstice? Why do people keep burning a giant straw goat in Sweden? And why do reindeer eyes change color with the seasons?

Every December the same questions come back, and most of us never get around to finding the answers. This book does it for you: more than 700 short, surprising explanations of the season, from the longest night of the year to the midnight fireworks of New Year's Eve.

Inside you'll find:

The real story behind the traditions: the tree, the stocking, the man in red, and why Coca-Cola didn't invent the red SantaChristmas around the world: Krampus, the Yule Lads, KFC in Japan, and twelve grapes at midnight in SpainThe science of winter: why snow squeaks, why pipes burst where there's no ice, and how a frozen frog comes back to lifeFood, carols, movies, and history: from the century-old fruitcake found in Antarctica to the Christmas truce of 1914New Year's Eve around the world: why Times Square drops a ball, why Danes smash plates on friends' doorsteps, and why Russians drink their burned wishes

Every answer gives you the actual reason, not just the fact, in plain language and a couple of minutes. Where a favorite story turns out to be a myth, you get the real one, which is usually stranger. Open it anywhere, read one answer by the fire or twenty on the train, and save the best ones to read aloud at the table.

A perfect Christmas gift for the curious adult who has everything: Dad, Grandpa, the family history buff, the one who always asks "but why?" This isn't a quiz book. It's respectful of every tradition, from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa to Lunar New Year. A big, generous 7 x 10 volume and a companion to 100,000 Whys for Curious Adults.

Open it anywhere, and save the best answers for the table.