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Hey there, kids (and kids-masquerading-as-adults)! Have you ever pretended to be a spy? Don’t lie, of course you have. For one thing, spies have gadgets, and gadgets make you cool. I bet you didn’t know you could make your own secret agent devices at home, though!

In the Nick and Tesla series, “Science Bob” Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith combine creative inventions with thrilling adventure stories. The third book in the series, Nick and Tesla’s Secret Agent Gadget Battle, just released on May 6. And now you can try out your own snooping skills by making your own Fingerprint-Finder System! Read on to learn how, and to enter a giveaway to win the first three books!

(By the way, you can visit NickandTesla.com to learn more about the books, watch Science Bob in action, and submit your own gadget-making projects.)

Some of the world’s most well-known fairy tales were written by Hans Christian Andersen. It’s no wonder his beloved short stories have survived since the early 1800s and have been told and re-told in countless different formats. However, some of the most memorable versions of these stories have come from Disney. With major adaptations such as The Little Mermaid and Frozen (a loose adaptation of The Snow Queen), Disney brought these stories to life for children everywhere. But what other Andersen tales should Disney bring to life? We've got a few suggestions.

Back when we wrote Signing Their Rights Away, a Quirk book about the signers of the U.S. Constitution, we visited Philadelphia’s famous Christ Church Burial Ground, the final resting place of some Declaration and Constitution signers. Tourists typically make a beeline for Ben Franklin’s grave. Most never think to check out the stone of Major William Jackson—even if they’d know where to find it.

Jackson was the official secretary to the Constitutional Convention back in 1787, and served as George Washington’s “writing-aide” during that summer-long session to craft the U.S. Constitution. Jackson’s signature appears in the bottom-left corner of the U.S. Constitution. Since he was not a delegate from a particular state, historians don’t regard him as an official signer of the document. But people sometimes call him the “40^th signer”—in quotes.

Jackson has laid in the Christ Church’s Burial Ground since his death in 1828, but the stone on his grave (and that of his wife Elizabeth) has, over time, suffered damage and erosion. (See photo here.) Historians at the church recently did some detective work among their records to identify the precise location of the Jacksons’ grave. They then donated their own money to commission a new plaque, which will be installed and dedicated this weekend, Sunday, May 18.

The event is open to the public, so come check it out: 1:00 pm at

Christ Church Burial Ground, 5^th and Arch Streets, in Quirk’s hometown of Philadelphia, PA.

Ever wondered how to wrestle an alligator if the situation presented itself? Well, for just $1.99, now you can find out. David Borgenicht and Joshua Piven’s The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook is featured as today’s NOOK Daily Find.

The book prepares you for everything and anything that could go wrong, from fending off a shark to landing a plane. With summertime quickly approaching, you must expect the unexpected. Luckily, the Survival Handbook will make sure you are ready.  

Download the book for your NOOK, and you’ll be armed for whatever life throws at you today!

Quirk published the debut cookbook from Russell van Kraayenburg. Haute Dogs.

Now, every time we have a cookbook come out, we always try to do a little something fun. Contests, giveaways, blog tours… you know, things like that. The food blog community is just so full of fun, excited people, that we love launching these kind of fun campaigns to get them involved.

For Russell's book, we put together a fun Haute Dog Blog Tour, and a handful of blogs joined up to make an Ecuadorian Street Dog together. One blog made the salsa, another made the condiments, and so on. Today's final stop hits Russell's website, Chasing Delicious, where you can learn how to make the actual hot dog. But all the rest? Read on. 

Huge thank you to everyone who played along. This was a lot of fun.