Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe

Book review of Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe.

Randall Munroe uses stick figures and simple diagrams to explain abstract and difficult concepts.  It’s brilliant really.

Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words is inspirational for educators who struggle to make complex concepts accessible.

I’ve run into this problem when trying to create fliers to describe, simply and succinctly, the process that you use to check out ebooks from the library. It feels like an impossible task.

Munroe shows in this clever book, that anything is possible to explain simply and with stick figures.

From Lifting Rooms (elevators) to Our Star (the sun), Munroe explains it all with only ten hundred (1000!) of the most commonly used words in the English language.

Every page is a gem, but I particularly loved The Pieces Everything is Made of (The Periodic Table of Elements) pg 47-48 and The US’s Laws of the Land (United States Constitution) pg 14.

Though simple enough for a child to understand, the cartoons contain small puns and inside jokes that adults will enjoy too.  So, I recommend this non-fiction book for everybody.

Thanks for reading!

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