HOW AND WHY WONDER BOOKS were written mostly in period from 1960 to the early 1970s. The audience for this collection of books was young people. All of books followed a similar format and were typically written in a form of a question followed up by an answer paragraph. Virtually all of the illustrations were hand art (not photographs). This page serves to document these books and is provided primarily as nostalgia. The content of many of the books is quite dated by today's standards (for example the How and Why Wonder Book of the Moon), however it is still fun to read through them to see how many of the future predictions were actually realized!
There appears to have been around 70 books in this series. At least some of them were available in hardcover (the vast majority of the ones I have are paperback). As a child I had about 10 or 12 of these books and found them to be very enjoyable.
From time to time I receive e-mail asking if I sell How and Why Wonder Books. In general the answer is no. A good source for How and Why Wonder books Ebay. Not all titles show up all of the time, but usually a good number of titles can be found on any given day for a modest cost. When searching Ebay I have the best luck with the search term "How and Why".
Note to my visitors: I started this page in late 2006 figuring it would be a "minor attraction" to a very specialized audience. To my complete amazement the traffic this page generates totally blows my mind! It is at or near the top of all the search engines (when searching the term "How and Why Wonder Book") and this page is getting over 4700 visitors per month on a regular basis! It is the most popular of ALL my pages! I had no idea that there were so many people that were into these books back in the day. Thanks to all who have written to me about these books and sharing "How and Why" memories!
In this section are photos (actually scans) of the covers of the How and Why Wonder Books that I have in my collection. There are about a dozen or so that I still need to acquire.
No. 5001 in the series. People who write to me often cite this title as one of their favorites!
No. 5002 in the series.
No. 5003 in the series.
No. 5004 in the series. This was one of the first How and Why wonder books I received as a young boy (and also one of my favorites as I was big into Geology back around 1969).
No. 5005 in the series. This book does not appear on later rosters.
No. 5006 in the series. This book is not listed on later rosters as no. 5006, an apparently newer version came out as no.
5064 (see below). Interested in astronomy? See my page Amateur
Astronomer's Notebook, a site dedicated to amateur astronomy, especially suited to those just starting out!
No. 5007 in the series.
No. 5008 in the series.
No. 5009 in the series.
No. 5010 in the series. Another of my favorites due to my interest in Geology at a young age.
No. 5011 in the series.
No. 5012 in the series.
No. 5013 in the series. This was one of the first How and Why wonder books I received as a young boy.
No. 5014 in the series.
No. 5015 in the series.
No. 5016 in the series.
No. 5017 in the series.
No. 5018 in the series. DON'T HAVE THIS IN MY COLLECTION YET.
No. 5019 in the series. I visitor to this site (Kim D.) generously sent me a copy of this book! This book does not appear on later rosters. It appears to
have been later replaced by no. 5065 (below).
No. 5020 in the series. DON'T HAVE THIS IN MY COLLECTION YET. This title seems to be somewhat rare and harder to find.
No. 5021 in the series.
No. 5022 in the series.
No. 5023 in the series.
No. 5024 in the series.
No. 5025 in the series.
No. 5026 in the series. Interested in astronomy? See my page Amateur
Astronomer's Notebook, a site dedicated to amateur astronomy, especially suited to those just starting out!
No. 5027 in the series. This is one of the first titles I owned as a young boy.
No. 5028 in the series.
No. 5029 in the series.
No. 5030 in the series.
No. 5031 in the series.
No. 5032 in the series. I have this one now thanks to my friend Christa (sent it to me for my birthday)!.
No. 5033 in the series. This image is of the 1974 printing.
No. 5034 in the series.
No. 5035 in the series.
No. 5036 in the series. This title seems to be somewhat rare and harder to find.
No. 5037 in the series.
No. 5038 in the series. This book (no. 5038) does not appear on later rosters,
however a newer version of FISH does (no. 5066).
No. 5039 in the series.
No. 5040 in the series.
No. 5041 in the series.
No. 5042 in the series.
No. 5043 in the series. DON'T HAVE THIS IN MY COLLECTION YET.
No. 5044 in the series. This book does not appear on later rosters, it appears to have been replaced by BOATS AND SHIPS,
no. 5067.
No. 5045 in the series. This was one of the first How and Why books I received as a young boy.
No. 5046 in the series.
No. 5047 in the series.
No. 5048 in the series. This book does not appear on later rosters, it was
apparently replaced by no. 5068. Interested in astronomy? See my page Amateur
Astronomer's Notebook, a site dedicated to amateur astronomy, especially suited to those just starting out!
No. 5049 in the series.
No. 5050 in the series.
No. 5051 in the series.
No. 5052 in the series. This book does not appear on later rosters, it was
apparently replaced by no. 5069.
No. 5053 in the series.
No. 5054 in the series.
No. 5055 in the series.
No. 5056 in the series.
No. 5057 in the series.
No. 5058 in the series.
No. 5059 in the series.
No. 5060 in the series.
No. 5061 in the series. DON'T HAVE THIS IN MY COLLECTION YET.
No. 5062 in the series.
No. 5063 in the series.
No. 5064 in the series. Interested in astronomy? See my page Amateur
Astronomer's Notebook, a site dedicated to amateur astronomy, especially suited to those just starting out!
No. 5065 in the series.
No. 5066 in the series.
No. 5067 in the series. This book replaced 5044 in the series.
No. 5068 in the series. This version appears to have replaced the harder to find No. 5048 of the same title. Interested in astronomy? See my page Amateur
Astronomer's Notebook, a site dedicated to amateur astronomy, especially suited to those just starting out!
No. 5069 in the series.
No. 5070 in the series (however the number does not appear on the book like older volumes). Also it is one of the few
that uses actual photographs (vice hand art) for illustrations.
This volume does not appear to have a number. It is copyright 1972, and this image is of the 1976 printing
(note the slightly modified title fonts).
The back cover of a typical How and Why Wonder Book (ones from the 60s and early 70s). All were very similar.
Reminder to me: here are the 3 titles I still need to acquire!
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Images of the How and Why Wonder Book covers are copyright Grosset and Dunlap. HTML text © Copyright 2006 - 2012 by Joe Roberts.