The 2014 Guinness World Records Book Amazes Fans with a Companion Augmented Reality App

Thank you to Guinness World Records for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.  All opinions expressed are my own.

The Guinness World Records is a huge company who makes a book every year of world records that is categorized by types of records.  I have five Guinness World Records books so far, including the 2014 book.  The 2014 GWR book is very different from all the other books because there is a free See It 3D app for your Android or iOS phone or tablet.  The app makes 3D images pop-up on the screen that aren't there in the 2-dimensional book, using augmented reality technology and your device's camera.  Each 3D image has a special feature that allow you to do things that affect the image.  Some things that pop-up aren't images that you can play with, but are videos of the records in the making.

On page 26 and 27, there is one of my favorite 3D images about Prehistoric Life.  It is a Spinosaurus, the largest carnivorous dinosaur, compared to the sizes of a London phone booth and a double-decker bus.  There are three buttons used to control the 3D image.  One moves it around the page, another makes it roar, and the last one makes it bite down with its jaws.  It would have been even cooler if we could make the Spinosaurus destroy the double-decker bus and the phone booth.

The app on page 14 and 15, the Restless Planet, makes an image of the world flattened out on a flat surface.  Then, with the press of a button, it rolls up into a globe.  If you press the button on the bottom right corner, you can pick a certain natural disaster that you want to see pictures of.  It also tells you which natural disaster it is and where it happened.  My favorite natural disaster from this feature of the app is volcanoes.  It is my favorite because it is neat to see pictures of volcanoes erupting.

On page 28 to 29, the section on Snakes, the 3D image is a giant spitting cobra popping out of a lidded basket and spitting poison all over your screen.  This page is one of my favorites because you get to see how a giant spitting cobra would act in that situation, plus it is very action-packed.

At the beginning of the section Animal Extremes is Hercules, an adult male liger.  A liger is a mix of a lion and a tiger.  Hercules is the largest living cat in the world.  This is quite a coincidence because I saw Hercules in person at the Tiger Show at King Richard's Faire in 2012, but unfortunately in 2013 he retired.  I like this section because it's great to see Hercules in the Guinness World Records book.

I recommend the 2014 Guinness World Records book as a Holiday present to kids 7 and up.  There are cool photographs if the child can't read all the words.  I hope that, in the future, the next book will have augmented reality features for more pages, as the 2014 book only contains a handful.  To learn more about the 2014 GWR book, visit www.GuinnessWorldRecords.com.

Break a World Record with Jumpstart by Reading with Your Kids!

No compensation was received for sharing this information with 3G2S readers.

Reading with my kids has always been one my favorite activities.  Whether it is a book for school or just for fun, it is a great way to expand and grow their imaginations. This year, on October 3rd, we invite you to join people across the country in an effort to support Jumpstart’s ongoing mission to work toward the day that every child in America enters Kindergarten prepared to succeed!

On Thursday, October 3rd, many families will sit down to read this year’s book Otis, a New York Times Bestseller, by Loren Long, to beat the world record of 2.3 Million people who read the same book on the same day.  This record was set in 2012 by Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. Since 2006, the Jumpstart campaign has raised more than $8 million dollars for early education programs. Join families across the U.S. this year to help beat last year’s record and take the "Pledge to Read".

Holiday 2011: Guinness World Records 2012

If you are stumped for a gift for that person who has everything, then the 2012 Guinness World Records book might be your solution.  This book will fascinate the youngest readers all the way to the oldest persons on your list.  Since our nearly 8 year old son was introduced to his first Guinness World Records book three years ago, he has remembered to put it on his Christmas wishlist every single year.  As it turns out, this is a gift many people are more than happy to give in place of a toy.

In this year's Guinness World Records, my son's absolute favorite world record is featured on the first page . . . the "Largest Object Lifted by Helium Balloons."  Just like in Disney Pixar's Up, the record is held by a house.

Other things that impressed our son was the world's largest whoopie cushion and the world's greatest insect mound (built by termites . . . eek!).  You can search for any world record you may be curious about on GuinnessWorldRecords.com, but if you want to see the amazing full-color photos, you will need to buy the book.  You can also choose a world record challenge to break your own world record should you feel inspired.

You can purchase the 2012 World Record book from Amazon.com and most major book retailers.  It would truly make a great gift for any individual or for a whole family.


Thank you to Guinness World Records for providing a complimentary product sample for us to base this review upon.

Review: "Guinness World Records 2010" The Book of the Decade

I recently had the pleasure of introducing the wonderful world of Guinness World Records to our kindergartner. He just turned 6 and is at the perfect age where he can understand the magnitude of some of these world records enough to be extremely impressed by them.

The layout of each page is categorized, so that the information is presented in an organized fashion, but also is visually dynamic at the same time. Every page is packed with images. In fact, there is so much information to take in on each page, my son and I look through about a dozen pages at a time. We have still yet to look through the entire book.

Although my son is a beginner reader, he can understand much of this book independently because of the many images. It is clear to him when the record involves something being the largest in the world. He has also come to recognize the words "actual size" which appear on several images in this book.

So far, I think my son is most impressed by the tallest man in the world. He was in awe when I explained that this man was almost 3 feet taller than his own father, whom he thinks is extremely tall at 6ft. He even went as far as questioning whether the things I showed him in this book were fictional and staged. I assured him that they were not and he was again in awe.

To learn more about the current Guinness World Records and about how to set a new record, visit GuinnessWorldRecords.com . You should be able to find the Guinness World Records 2010 book at your local bookstores and online at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. To keep up with the latest Guinness news, you can follow Guinness World Records on Twitter.

Thank you to Guinness World Records for sending us a book on which to base this review.

Which is Your Favorite Guinness World Record of the Decade?

Do you remember the year 2000? Well, I sure do and it is difficult for me to wrap my mind around that fact that we are about to enter the year 2010. So much has happened this past year . . . never mind about this past decade.

Well, there is one book that records history like no other and that's the Guinness Book of World Records. I am excited to be able to review the 2010 edition soon and to share the wonders of the Guinness world with my kindergartner.

Svetlana Pankratova (Holds the record for World’s Longest Legs)

Right now, you can visit GuinnessWorldRecords.com to see which they consider to be the Top 100 Records of the Decade. Then you can place your vote for your favorite record breaker in each of ten categories. Hurry, because the polls close Christmas weekend!