First of Everything

Sam Jam sat in a school library and challenged the school community to ask him about the origin of anything at all — and pledged to use library resources to answer within 60 minutes. Children and adults delivered clever, funny, unexpected questions: Who owned the first pet dog? Who invented toilets? What was the first song? Were the first newspapers really made of rock? And who was the first human, anyway?

Seeking answers, he and his young assistants discovered remarkable true tales:

• The tamer of wolves
• The tape measure that reached the moon
• The first instant message
• The man who took a picture of a sound
• The first newspaper — which actually WAS made of rock!

And dozens more remarkable true stories.

The result is a fun story collection about the origins of a huge range of things — which also introduces young readers to the art and science of academic research. In these times of fake news, information overload, and too much homework, the ability to conduct fast, accurate research is one of the best skills any student can have — and you can learn it in these pages.