The WHY Library
Real answers to the questions kids actually ask. Some answers below come straight from the pages of But WHY?! — those carry the page number. The rest are the short answers from our daily Question of the Day, answered the same honest way.
Body
Why do my fingers wrinkle in water?From But WHY?! (p.11)Why do cuts heal?From But WHY?! (p.12)Why do I yawn — and why is it catching?From But WHY?! (p.19)Why does food lose most of its flavor when I hold my nose?From But WHY?! (p.20)Why do I dream, and forget nearly all of them?From But WHY?! (p.27)
Home
Why does a metal spoon feel colder than a wooden spoon in the same room?Why does ice float on water?Why does bread have holes in it that nobody poked there?From But WHY?! (p.29)Why does toast turn brown — and taste nothing like the bread it was?From But WHY?! (p.30)Why does chocolate melt in my hand but not in the cupboard?From But WHY?! (p.35)Why does a cut apple go brown?From But WHY?! (p.36)
Animals
Why do cats purr?Why do bears sleep in dens all winter?Why is a fly so hard to catch?Why do birds fly together in a big flock?How can a gecko walk straight up a pane of glass?From But WHY?! (p.77)How does a bat "see" in the dark?From But WHY?! (p.78)How does a shark find its dinner in a huge dark ocean?From But WHY?! (p.79)How do fish breathe underwater?From But WHY?! (p.80)
Sky & planet
Space
Want more answers like these?
But WHY?! holds 162 illustrated answers to the questions kids actually ask — plus mini mysteries, two-minute experiments and quizzes, for curious kids aged 7–12. Start with five answers, free.