The Great List of Everything

Iris has finally acquired a cell phone—her first. Cathon would love to help her learn how to use it, but Iris insists on figuring it out all by herself. How did people communicate before the telephone was invented, anyway?

Iris and Cathon are shocked to discover how big and heavy the first microwave oven was. Turns out that inventing it involved melting a bar of chocolate.

Cathon bakes Iris a very special kind of bread for her birthday, and pretty soon the two friends have gone down the rabbit hole, in search of the origins of bread. They even tell the tale of a whole army sculpted from bread.

Cathon has a new best friend—Ruben the goldfish. Iris’s latest hobby is fishing. A fine kettle of fish to be sure. The fishing rod is an amazing piece of gear, but where did it come from?

Cathon has borrowed her aunt’s camera and wants to take some nice pictures of Iris. But she discovers that her best friend isn’t particularly photogenic. The two pals explore how people preserved memories in the past.

Iris wants to send her grandfather a birthday card. Touching, right? But Cathon doesn't want her friend to raid her collection looking for a stamp. Did someone really once pay $9.5 million for a single stamp?