Beakman's World
Beakman's Gear Up Your Gray Matter: Volume II
This is a quiz style book with flash card type answers. To help keep all the cards together there is a small screw-bolt on the lower left of each of the book's pages/cards. The back of each card has the words "AnswerCard" written above the page number, which was not present in the first volume. The front of each page has the same layout, page/card number, a question, all possible answers being from A-D with two pages having a E option (pages 13 & 46). Behind the question there is a question mark, with star like designs around it. Each page/card has the same design, unlike the first volume that had several different designs around the question mark. Nearly all pages have images on their reverse side, with the exception of page/card 30. The images alternate between the characters Beakman, Lester a man in a rat suit (really it says so on page 42), Liza, or the two puppet penguins (page 23 has only one penguin), with a speech balloon giving that character's observation about the answer to the question, or other topic, most of them silly comments. The images are in blue-green color, with lime-green background for the answer and also for the inner boarder on a white background. The answer is given and then explained in a short paragraph, the characters give their observation, and then there is usually one other quick fact about the subject of the question. The inside of the front and back covers is solid white, and the credits and copyright information is located on the back of the book. The book original sold for $8.95, was written by Jok Church and Cameron Donkey, it was designed by Peter Georgeson, and had Electronic Production by Millie Beard. This book is part of a series of the "Beakman's World" products, they are all based on the original newspaper feature, 'You Can with Beakman & Jax' by Jok Church. The book is arranged similar to the television show's "Beakmania' style of quick questions and answers, and the 'Beakmanac' book from the "Beakman's World: Beakmania Game". With the rounded edges of the cards, it can be a little difficult to turn the pages, and thus cause the cards to get bent as you turn them to try and read their backside. The edges and shape of this book are exactly the same as those from the first book, even though the front cover image of both books are different. If the pages become loose, you would need a pliers type of tool to tighten the screw/bolt at the bottom of the pages, since the bolt is flattened and doesn't have a standard screw driver slot. It might also be easier to remove the bolt, to quickly read the book. The bolt is also the reason that the book has a small warning on the back cover warning that it can be a hazard to children under three years of age. The bolt also hides text that comes too near the edge of the page. Text in the fast fact section are a bit blocky and at times the letters can look very much like another, which might make it hard to read for younger readers. On the bright side of things, some of the questions in the book were also given in the television series, and if the reader has watched the TV series they might know some of the answers, and learn more about the answer. Sadly the actors are not credited so I will list them here; Beakman-Paul Zaloom, Liza-Eliza Schneider, and Lester-Mark Ritts.
