A Bucket of Questions, a curious illustrated book you didn’t know you need

We started out one of our recent YouTube videos by stating something along the lines of “getting kids to ask the question is the important part about discovery and loving STEM.” In theory, if you’re going by a book’s title, A Bucket of Questions is an illustrated look at some questions that the elementary school audience has. What are hot dogs made of? and What’s at the bottom of the ocean? are just a couple of the questions that are posed to young audiences. The punch line to the book is alluded to in its full title, A Bucket of Questions almost answered by Tim Fite. ‘almost answered’ is not the sort of qualifier that one would use with a STEM, Q & A, or factoid book, and once you thumb through it you’ll know why it’s there.

A Bucket of Questions is more about the silly, fun times that elementary-aged audiences can have with a book by themselves. Most third-grade students will be able to read it without any assistance. Those readers that are slightly younger will need help with a couple of words or wrangling through the twisty fonts and upside-down pages. This is not your standard illustrated book and that point is made clear from the very first page. All but two pages are black and white, and has illustrations that resemble a seek-and-find book, with just a hint of Monty Python for good measure.

The first legitimate question that is asked in A Bucket of Questions is why do seals clap? It then lists four possible answers including, for a hermit-crab race, for a message in a bottle, for a fishy ice cream cone, and because they are happy……. & they know it. Immediately after that final possible answer, there’s a page acknowledging that those answers were ridiculous and that it’s hoped the ones in the future are more informative.

Spoiler alert: they aren’t more informative, but STEM-based conversation is not what A Bucketful of Questions is out to accomplish. This is wacky, absurd read-aloud fun that asks a handful of questions, without providing any answers. In its place you’ve got the possibility of mermaids having a BBQ at the bottom of the ocean and kids losing their teeth because their rooms are messy, it took me a moment to get that last one too.

A Bucket of Questions is a black-and-white book opus that wants to make kids giggle, use their imagination, realize when something is intentionally silly, and ask questions. Is that a crab eating a hot dog? What are hot dogs made of? What do penguins and this book have in common? For fun, take off the book’s jacket and admire the scribblings that are on the front and back.

This is exactly what every fourth, fifth or sixth-grade student wants their notebook to look like. It’s chaotic, has notes of all sizes, and is adorned with cartoonish illustrations, and possible activities within the book like counting all of the hot dogs or teeth therein. Think something along the lines of a less maniacal Joker from Batman and you have an idea of how it looks. It’ll also encourage kids to open the book, something which can be quite challenging to certain youths. They’ll see ‘how did bunny ears get so long?’ being pondered look at the backward writing and, at a bare minimum, be curious about what’s inside.

Do not open A Bucket of Questions expecting a Nat Geo Kids look at things kids are curious about. The adage of not judging a book by its cover looms large over this illustrated book. Instead, simply jump into the silly stream, have fun looking at the illustrations, and encourage kids to ask questions-even if you don’t know the answers.

A Bucket of Questions almost answered is by Tim Fite and is available on Antheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

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