For the unfamiliar, National Geographic Kids’ Weird But True! is a collection of content that has included magazine articles, books, a TV and web series, and more. National Geographic joined The Walt Disney Company in 2019, and even though a season of the Weird But True! series was released as a Disney+ exclusive, it wasn’t until this fall that kids were able to get their hands on a copy of Weird But True! Disney: 300 Wonderful Facts to Celebrate the Magic of Disney, perfectly sized for small gifts and stocking stuffers.
(Nat Geo/Disney)
As the title suggests, this kid-sized book is full of facts about Disney that may seem strange. For example, there’s a secret basketball hoop inside the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction at Disneyland. In true National Geographic Kids style, each page offers full-color glossy photos with large-font facts that are easy to read for the most part (parents may need to assist with a few scientific words here and there).
This being a Nat Geo publication, there are a fair amount of science facts that were new to me. While I consider myself well-versed on all things Disney, I wasn’t aware of several species of animals that were named after Disney characters, the cutest of which is the Dumbo Octopus. And one of the coolest facts in the book is used as a selling point on the back cover – the fact that the constellations depicted in Moana are based on how the stars would’ve appeared 2,000 years ago when the story takes place.
Weird But True! Disney is the perfect way to get a child interested in learning more about how their favorite characters, movies, shows, theme parks, or attractions were made. Each fact is a spark that can send them down their own road of learning more about Disney history. For example, it largely strays from giving all of the information, so a fact about how the first Mickey Mouse short was animated by just one person might prompt questions. “Who was he?” “Why weren’t there other animators helping?” These questions can be fun for parents to answer and can also be used to help kids learn how to find the answers themselves.
With an even mix of facts about Disney history, movies, and theme parks, Weird But True! Disney can also be used to get kids excited about the content available with a family’s Disney+ subscription or about an upcoming family vacation to a Disney destination. Reading about the Mickey-shaped solar farm at the Walt Disney World Resort will create a fun callback as they pass it while driving down World Drive on their way to Magic Kingdom or EPCOT, for example. Or learning about how many spots are on all the dogs in One Hundred and One Dalmatians may help them overcome their fear of Cruella De Vil to get to the joyful ending.
Weird But True! Disney: 300 Wonderful Facts to Celebrate the Magic of Disney is now available from National Geographic Kids.
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