It Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . : Canadian Feats, Facts and Flubs

Father and son Ted and Will Staunton have assembled a truly amazing and entertaining collection of, as the subtitle says, “Canadian Feats, Facts and Flubs”, or, as most people would call it, trivia. The family duo organize their collection of fresh miscellaneous historical and contemporary facts into nine sections, with the title of each beginning with the words “Canadians vs. ...” which, in turn, are then completed by “Vast”, Common Sense”, “Money”, “Language”, “Nature”, “The Law”, “Rude”, “Everybody” and “Food”. To clarify the section titles’ meanings, the authors have added a bracketed subtitle to each. For example, “(The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Ideas)” is appended to “Canadians vs. Common Sense” and “(Um, No, You Can’t Do That)” to “Canadians vs. the Law”. The authors take a tongue-in-cheek approach to their subject matter, and a running joke throughout is Canadians’ reputation for being “polite”.

Though there are many Canadian trivia books available, what sets It Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . apart from the others is its attention-grabbing visual design. The book is simply full of eye-catching colour, beginning with the headings for each entry and the changing coloured backgrounds which are overlaid with scads of photos and other illustrations that are used to visually represent and extend the book’s contents. Text and illustrations are spread across facing pages, but sometimes the entire spread is taken up by a single colour photo. Among the most impactful of such spreads are the photos of: the world’s largest snow maze located in Saint Adolph, Manitoba; the tubing snow hill created on the main street of Bracebridge, Ontario, for its annual Fire and Ice Festival; and the six meter wide “no-touching-zone” that has been cut through a forest to visually mark the Canada-US border.

To further engage readers, the authors included nine quizzes comprised of a mix of true/false questions and matching challenges. “Going for Gold”, which related to the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush and crossing the Chilkoot Pass, would be an example of the former. Provided with five possible means to cross the Pass, readers are asked, “Can you guess which of the following we made up and which were truly suggested?” In one of the matching challenge titles, “See to See”, Can you match these BIG THINGS to the province or territory they come from?”, the authors identified the names of 13 big things, like a “Staggering statue of a spud” or an “Enormous Elvis-impersonator festival” and then asked readers to connect each of the items to one of the listed provinces and territories. An answer key is provided at the end of the book.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea . . . : Canadian Feats, Facts and Flubs will be a sure-fire hit with trivia fans and reluctant readers. Though the publisher’s age recommendation is Ages
8-12, because of the book’s design, it would not be out of place in high schools or adult collections. Because the authors conclude the book with an “Until Next Time!” section, it appears that their well of Canadian trivia has not run dry.