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The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Dan Marshall
For Holly, Milly & Winnie. xx
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First published in Australia by Walker Books Australia Ltd 2026 First published in Great Britain by Puffin Books Ltd 2026 001
Text and illustration copyright Ā© Daniel Marshall, 2026
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The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth
Dan Marshall
Dan Marshall













Goldļ¬sh have a three-second memory 66
Bats are blind 68
Bulls hate red
Lemmings jump off cliffs 72
Narwhals are mythical
Handling toads gives you warts 76
Elephants are afraid of mice
Ostriches bury their heads in the sand
Chameleons change colour to perfectly blend in with their surroundings


If you look in the dictionary, the deļ¬nition of a fact is something that is true and can be proven. Itās quite simple, really! There are a lot of facts that have been proven: Grass is green, the sky is blue, two plus two equals four ā and if you throw a ball in the air, itās going to come straight back down.


But although you might not realize it, there are also a lot of āfactsā that you may believe to be true, but actually are not! They are false. And by āfalseā, what we really mean is they have not been proven and are most deļ¬nitely not accurate.









This book aims to enlighten you about some of those false facts ā the misconceptions that we unknowingly pick up along the way, and the myths that we mistakenly believe to be true, but are not at all. Covering topics as diverse as humans, Earth, science, animals, history and food, False Versus Facts will take you on a fun journey of truth ā not just by pointing out what is false, but by deep diving into what is actually true on that particular subject.
Itās never too late to discover the truth, no matter how strange or counterintuitive it may ļ¬rst appear. So, turn the page and discover the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.



