Thanks to Netgalley and Frances Lincoln Children's for the the ARC of this!

This was a very fun look at some people who've made history by being the best at something. My kids enjoyed reading it, and I feel like even I was learning some things from it.

A fun exploration of historical figures along with some of the reasons they are still remembered today. Each chapter begins with a quick quiz to match an illustration to the name of the character represented before going into a description of each covering about a double page spread per person, and ending with a quiz about other people in the same category who are not covered in the book.
The book ends with a timeline to put each of the figures into historical context which will give young readers an idea about chronology.

It is interesting to me that Seed doesn't intend judgement in the term "show off". These big, ostentatious, relentless people change the world. A solid collection suitable for a young middle grade audience.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

Fun and informative with great illustrations! Has something for everyone but might be better for slightly older children. Loved the addition of a timeline.

Brilliantly illustrated, packed full of intriguing historical information and I loved how diverse it was with the range of cultures and people included within the book! A brilliant addition to any young historians library!

I love Andy Seed's humourous style and whilst he gives lots of historical information, his books are fun to read and this one is no exception. Full of information about characters from history like kings, queens, artists, musicians etc it gives information on why they are considered show offs and some amusing facts about them. A great read.

This is an excellent book - such a fun presentation of facts with glorious illustrations. Easy reading with bite-sized facts accompanied with informative images.

I learnt lots of trivia while I was reading along, yet the facts are cleverly curriculum linked. Children will love this book and I cannot wait to get a copy on my library shelves.

My 8 year old son absolutely loved this one! Full of fun illustrations, facts and quizzes about some very famous (Elizabeth I, Marie Currie) and lesser known historical characters, this would make a brilliant Christmas present for fans of Horrible Histories

What fun!
Often weird but definitely true are these vignettes of famousness from around the world and through the ages.
The illustrations by Sam Caldwell are fun, simple, colorful, and forthright. Every public and school library needs a copy!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group/Frances Lincoln Children's Books/Happy Yak via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. I'm being completely honest with my review.

History's biggest Show-offs is a really fun way to learn about interesting people in history.


I thought the quizzes and project ideas are a fun educational addition . There are many interactive
aspects in this books that make this book a fun learning tool

Cute book for a younger child to learn about histories greats. Goes into enough detail but not too much to get the child to want to learn more. Great pictures in the book. Would be a good book to introduce some historical people to children

I read this book with my 9yo daughter and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The layout has been really well considered, giving the reader to choose an individual to reader about, or look at people under a certain profession or even study a particular time period. The formatting of the page keeps it highly engaging, with thoughtfully presented and accessible text and stunning illustrations. We loved the range of people included and loved learning about people we hadn't heard of before and discovering new facts about heroes we already know. My 9yo particularly loved the inclusion of so many girls and the quizzes she could take. The glossary, index and timeline at the end are really useful additions also.

We will definitely be purchasing a hard copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This hilarious book took us on a journey of some of history's greatest show-offs, from rich kings and queens to fabulous child prodigy musicians who weren't shy about their talents and artists who could not stop telling others how wonderful they were!

The book is brilliantly divided into chapters...people in charge, people who think up stuff, people who create...each chapter also goes through a timeline giving the kids a sense of how long ago it happened and how things changed through history... ancient, early modern, modern.

Andy Seed brings these outrageous but true stories to life in an engaging and funny way and Sam Caldwell's illustrations are just brilliant! We've had a giggle and learnt some great facts along the way!
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).

This was such a fun and creative way to teach kids about important people in history.

I appreciate that there was lots of diversity in the book and included fun random facts. Like Queen Elizabeth I owned 2,000 pairs of gloves!

The illustrations are bright and fun, it’s interactive with a few quizzes throughout and super informative.

This book would be a great Christmas gift for kids in your life! Available Tuesday (November 1).

Thank you to @netgalley, Quarto Publishing Group and @franceslincolnpub for the advanced copy.

A fun look at some of the biggest “show-offs” in historical as well as modern times.

This hilarious compilation takes a tongue-in-cheek look at some of the famous (and infamous) people throughout history. The content is divided as per the time period, beginning with the ancient and making its way through post-classical and early-modern to the modern era.

The names range from well-known rulers (King Henry VIII, Alexander the Great) to inventors (Tesla, Edison) to scientists (Marie Curie, Lavoisier) to musicians (Maria Callas, Mozart) to artists (Dali, Kahlo) and many more. There are even some relatively unknown (at least to me) personalities. (For instance, Ynes Mexia and Isambard K. Brunel) The wide range of achievers and braggarts makes for an interesting and a comprehensive collection. While some of the more controversial trivia have been glossed over for a couple of the personalities, I was glad to see that Oscar Wilde’s role in the LGBTQ rights movement has been mentioned.

While some of the names herein might be familiar, seeing it with the lens of being a ‘show-off’ presents an atypical portrayal of the person concerned. The title is almost like click-bait in its essence but the book justifies it well by reiterating the exact ‘show-off’ factor for every personality.

History is usually quite boring to kids, so having it presented in a wacky manner is a great idea. There are several fun quizzes peppered in between chapters to enhance the interactivity quotient. What I especially liked was how it balanced its focus between the popular show-offs such as the imaginative and the intelligent, and the pompous show-offs such as the extravagant and the power-obsessed. It also has a fair representation of men as well as women personalities.

The presentation of the content is quite organised, with clear illustrations and proper text boxes to organise each piece of trivia. The illustrations are in harmony with the content and match the spirit of the book by adding light-hearted jokes and cheeky comments to otherwise-serious topics. They aren’t necessarily accurate of the time period, but as this entire book is based on a jocular foundation, this point isn’t an issue.

Definitely recommended for kids who want to learn about memorable historical characters in a flippant way. This could also work as an entertaining add-on to history sessions for tweens in school.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “History's BIGGEST Show-offs: The boldest, bravest and brainiest people of all time”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

📖 From The Cover📖

Some people just can’t resist showing off… and this BIG book introduces readers to some of the biggest braggers and loudest show-offs throughout history. 

This book takes young readers on a tour of some of history's greatest show-offs, from wealthy kings and queens who loved to splash the cash to masterful musicians who weren't shy about their talents, or brilliant artists who could not stop telling others how great they were.

Some of the showoffs in this book include:
* Queen Elizabeth I of England, who owned over 2,000 pairs of gloves, 
* Alexander the Great, who named more than 70 cities in his vast empire after himself,... and one after his horse!
* The Montgolfier brothers, who showed off their flashy new invention, the hot air balloon, in front of huge crowds and even the King and Queen!
Andy Seed's hilarious text brings these crazy but true stories to life, as he tells readers tales about massive palaces, fast cars, monster banquets, immense armies, frilly outfits, dazzling bling, musical masterpieces, epic artworks, outrageous inventions, and much, much more!

Featuring long-dead leaders, artists, musicians, and more, from all around the world, the snappy facts are paired with humorous character illustrations from the brilliant Sam Caldwell for maximum hilarity.


REVIEW ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is fun book for both young and old minds

The artwork is funny, bright and eye catching it certainly will capture the target readers. The cartoons like illustrations of the “show offs” are clearly based on on real life person which is great touch.

The layout is really interesting it is split into sections such a the period in history and roles the “show offs” such as artists. Each “show off” has their own page full of cool and interesting facts all presented in a eye catching way, with small but mighty paragraphs of information that all primary school ages should be able to understand but also find fun.

The book includes lots of cool wee things to make the reader look beyond the book. There is quizzes to make you are reading the book properly and to encourage the readers to do more research. There are questions and activities to do such as “ how would you rule” for this aspect was brilliant cause it sparks conversation not only about history but the world we live in now. These wee extras make the book level from a three stars to a four.

This book is all rounded in terms of who would enjoy it. It could be used in a classroom to support on going history lessons, in a youth club to add a educational twist to some fun ( the activities would work great in a girl guide type setting) or as a family book to spark conversation and learning.

I’d say age wise it would most kids of primary age and would be good fact checker for lower secondary age. It something I would buy for my nieces and nephews to read along side them in the hope that the cool wee extras would have us debating and creating.

This book makes history fun, it pokes fun at some of the biggest names throughout history and today but also shows off and celebrates the very best of “the show offs”

This is a super cute and fun book and has a surprising amount of easily digestible information about a variety of historical figures (and they're not even all white guys!). There are a range of famous leaders, artists, scientists, writers, engineers, and entertainers that include a number of women and people of color.

The illustrations are whimsical and playful and the expressions on the people's faces are hilarious. There are also many puns and funny comments that elementary- and middle-school-aged kids will love.

I actually love the way they have reframed the famous people included as "show-offs" because of how rich, talented, clever, powerful, and/or imaginative they were. It gives the whole book an irreverent air so you feel like you're rebelling against staid and boring history professors everywhere.

It's also an interesting point that some famous historical figures are pretty much just famous because of how rich they were. I mean, really rich people are still famous today. But if you think about it... they didn't actually *do* anything to deserve that fame, unlike those famous for being talented and clever. I can see it spurring some interesting discussions.

I think it will really appeal to kids in the 7-14 range and plan on getting it for my 8-year-old for Christmas. I might read parts of it with him but I can also see him reading it on his own and enjoying it.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group, and Francis Lincoln Childrens Books for providing an e-arc for review.

History's Biggest Show-Offs is a children's book featuring the Boldest, Bravest and Brainiest people of all time. The book is broken down into People in Charge, People who Think Up Stuff and People Who Create Things. The book is trying to inspire young ones to be their own kind of show-off. The book contains some great stories as well as some games throughout to make learning a bit more fun! Of course my personal favorite is probably Ada Lovelace - one of the People Who Think Stuff Up and that's probably the kind of show-off I am, as a woman engineer also in science and math following in Ada's footsteps! You'll learn a lot about various royalty, inventors and artists in this book and even get to see what the top 5 is from each category, all with a lot of fun quizzes and illustrations along the way.

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley in order to write this review, I was not otherwise compensated.

I thought this was a very clever and fun way to teach children about historical figures and the things they accomplished. The fun quizzing included naturally setting up the kids for success. I enjoyed reading it myself and would have LOVED it as a child. It's informative and will definitely be a must for many ages!

Publication Oct. 24, 2022

This book is just plain fun and should appeal across a wide-range of ages. True, younger children will need an adult/parent to read for them but that would also allow for lots of discussion and teaching moments. I particularly liked that the "Show-offs" were of not just both sexes but from a wide range of cultures and settings. While most were names I've heard, some were new to me or attached an unfamiliar name to a particular setting, such as the designer of the Taj Mahal.

In other words, there's something for everyone, all illustrated with a personable batch of illustrations that while seeming realistic, also manage to evoke a human emotion from the depictions. Heck, even Henry VIII's cod piece gets a mention, so it definitely covers a wide variety of topics. The "Show-offs", I will note, weren't necessarily good or bad, just memorable. I won't mention all the names but they begin with Egypt's Hatsheput and range from there to Shakespeare, Hedy Lamarr, Tesla, Tarabai, Ada Lovelace, Michelangelo, and Capability Browne, a new name to me who won my prize for favorite name. He was a landscape designer, btw, and designed the gardens of Hampton Court Palace for King James III. There's a timeline as well as glossary and index at the end as well as fun quizzes such throughout.

There are more, so prepare to revisit old friends and make new ones, all with a smile. This one is a winner. Thanks #NetGalley and #QuartoPublishingGroup - #FrancesLincolnChildren'sBooks -#HappyYak for introducing me to some people I'd never heard of, barely heard about, and thought I knew. Fun!