How and Why Wonder Books - The UK Series

The UK Series

During the 1960s and 1970s, the How and Why Wonder Book series was concurrently published in the United Kingdom by Transworld Publishers of London. For the most part, both the cover artwork and the inner content of the UK volumes were identical to those of the U.S. publications. However, a handful of the UK versions contained either revised text and/or unique cover art. Many of these revisions were done to reflect European species (Birds, Insects) or to emphasize regional conditions.

The UK series was published using a completely different numbering sequence from the U.S. series (Dinosaurs is number 6501, Stars is 6503, etc.). Also, the UK version of Extinct Animals has a painted cover as opposed to the U.S. version's photo cover.

The following standard series titles were released in the UK by Transworld Publishers. Unless otherwise indicated, both the content and cover art used were identical to those of the American versions:

• 6501 Dinosaurs
• 6502 Weather
• 6503 Stars
• 6504 The Human Body
• 6505 Chemistry
• 6506 Horses
• 6507 Planets and Interplanetary Travel
• 6508 Wild Animals
• 6509 Lost Cities
• 6510 Dogs
• 6511 Fish
• 6512 Caves to Skyscrapers
• 6513 Our Earth
• 6514 The First World War (different cover art from US version)
• 6515 Explorations and Discoveries (different cover from later US softcover, but same as US hardcover and initial US softcover)
• 6516 Mathematics
• 6517 Primitive Man
• 6518 Science Experiments
• 6519 The Microscope
• 6520 Flight
• 6521 Prehistoric Mammals
• 6522 Atomic Energy
• 6523 Robots and Electronic Brains
• 6524 Ballet
• 6525 Electricity
• 6526 Machines
• 6527 Sound
• 6528 Ants and Bees
• 6529 Light and Colour
• 6530 Reptiles
• 6531 Rocks and Minerals
• 6532 Beginning Science
• 6533 Famous Scientists
• 6534 The Polar Regions
• 6535 North American Indians
• 6536 The Lady of the Lamp (identical to US Florence Nightingale version, but unique title)
• 6537 Winning of the West
• 6538 Time
• 6539 Basic Inventions
• 6540 Magnetism
• 6541 Old Testament
• 6542 Oceanography
• 6543 Building
• 6544 Deserts
• 6548 Rocks and Minerals (Revised Edition of #6531)
• 6550 Electronics
• 6551 Air and Water
• 6552 Railways (new text and cover art as compared to US Railroads edition)
• 6553 Birds (revised text and unique cover art)
• 6554 Coins (new text and cover art as compared to US Coins and Currency edition)
• 6555 Extinct Animals (was UK release first, subsequently released in US with different cover)
• 6557 World War II (revised text and unique cover art)
• 6561 Wild Flowers (revised text and unique cover art)
• 6562 Trees (unique cover art)
• 6564 Fossils (was UK release first, subsequently released in US with different cover)
• 6568 Butterflies and Moths (revised text and unique cover art)
• 6571 Insects (revised text and unique cover art)
• 6572 Robots and Electronic Brains (Revised Edition of #6523)
• 6575 Electronics (Revised Edition of #6550)
• 6579 Ships (unique cover art)
• 6580 Dogs (Revised Edition of #6510)
• 6581 Beginning Science (Revised Edition of #6532)
• 6585 Snakes
• 6586 Planets and Interplanetary Travel (Revised Edition of #6507)
• 6592 Weather (same cover image as U.S. edition, but revised content to #6502)
• 6595 Deserts (Same content as US edition but unique cover as compared to #6544)

In addition to the foregoing, Transworld expanded the UK series with the release of the following new, unique titles:

• 6545 The Tower of London
• 6546 Stamps
• 6547 Seashore
• 6549 Castles
• 6556 The Spoilt Earth
• 6558 Communications
• 6559 Dance
• 6560 Kings and Queens
• 6563 Photography
• 6565 Ancient Rome
• 6566 Common Market
• 6567 Volcanoes
• 6569 Vikings
• 6570 Cats
• 6573 Costume
• 6574 The Crusades
• 6576 The Motor Car
• 6577 Energy and Power Sources
• 6578 Radio and TV
• 6583 Heraldry
• 6587 Deep Sea
• 6589 Pets
• 6591 Arms and Armour
• 6596 Rare Animals
• 6597 Ancient Egypt
• 6598 Oil
• 6599 Parliament
• 6600 The Ice Age
• 6601 Arab World

Early editions of the UK volumes had a "checklist" on their back covers, similar to American copies. This format was used up until #6536 (Lady of the Lamp); released in 1967. However, soon thereafter, the format of the back cover was revised to show a photo of a random selection of some of the volumes available in the series.

In addition, Transworld published two How and Why BUMPER WONDER Books which were "puzzles, quizzes, jokes, amazing facts" using content and images from the various How and Why editions.

• Bumper Wonder Book #1 (#6584) (ISBN 0-552-86584-2)
• Bumper Wonder Book #2 (#6593) (ISBN 0-552-86593-1)

One feature of most UK editions of the How and Why books was that the back inner cover featured an advertisement for a "Collector's Binder" to hold your How and Why books. The ad read "The new How and Why collector binder holds 12 titles; a wonderful way to build your own reference library! It is available from the publishers of the How and Why books for only 16/-. Supplies are limited so send for yours now." This back inner cover advertisement was a standard feature for many years.

It also appears that four of the ISBN series numbers contained within the sequential Transworld numbering block were never assigned to volumes within the How and Why Wonder book series; these being volumes #6582 (ISBN 0-552-86582-6), #6588 (ISBN 0-552-86588-5), #6590 (ISBN 0-552-86590-7) and #6594 (ISBN 0-552-86594-x). An ISBN search of these numbers indicates that they were never assigned to published volumes.

Although the above lists are comprehensive for How and Why Wonder Book volumes published by Grosset & Dunlap and Transworld in the 1960s and 1970s, it should also be noted that certain volumes in the series continued to be published by Price Stern Sloan into the 1980s and that additional unique titles were added to the series. New How and Why Wonder Book titles included Radiation, Ships and Submarines, Planet Earth, Living Things, Automobiles, Motorcycles, Space, Robots, Aircraft, and the Solar System. None of these titles was available earlier than 1987 and thus they do not appear in the foregoing checklists.