Why Can't I Tickle Myself?

Why is the sea salty? How far away is space? Why can't I tickle myself? What makes me me? But how are we supposed to answer them? This book gathers over 100 real questions from children and puts them to some of our best-loved and most knowledgeable experts.

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Published in hardback as Big Questions From Little People...Answered By Some Very Big People. Children have a knack of asking great, but challenging, questions: Why is the sea salty? How far away is space? Why can't I tickle myself? What makes me me? But how are we supposed to answer them? Imagine if we could turn to a leading expert and ask them to answer on our behalf. This book gathers over 100 real questions from children and puts them to some of our best-loved and most knowledgeable experts. Alain de Botton explores 'How are dreams made?', Kate Humble explains 'Why do lions roar?' and Heston Blumenthal answers 'Why do we cook food?' Their answers to the Big Questions - some complex, some searching, some surreal and some just plain cute - make this an essential handbook for anyone who wants to explain the complexities of life to their children. Includes answers from Sir David Attenborough, Dame Kelly Holmes, Bear Grylls, Derren Brown, Noam Chomsky, Dr Richard Dawkins, Alain de Botton, Annabel Karmel, Jacqueline Wilson, Jarvis Cocker, Marcus du Sautoy, Jessica Ennis, Marcus Chown, Tracey Emin, Harry Hill, Dr Christian Jessen and many more.
At least 50 per cent of the publisher's advance payments and 67 per cent of net royalty income in respect of sales of this book is payable to the NSPCC (Registered Charity Numbers 216401 & SC037717).