I WONDER WHY RECORDS ARE BROKEN

The latest entry in a long-running series aimed at short attention spans gives record-keeping and -breaking a quick once-over. Accompanying short answers to questions about extreme weather (“Which hurricanes blew the hardest?”), earth science (“Which river is the longest?”), animals (“Which shark is a gentle giant?”), human records (“Can you jump like a flea?”), astronomy (“Which planet is king?”) and other topics, the illustrations mix unexceptional but brightly colored painted scenes done in a realistic style with small, goofy cartoons. An index provides a veneer of respectability, but so much of the content is either inane (“Where do angels fall?” You guessed it: Angel Falls) or oversimplified (“only 4.4 people live in each square mile of Mongolia”) that this is best used for quick, casual dips only. (Nonfiction. 8-10)