SUMMER SHOCK! While Jeopardy! was on hiatus, Ken Jennings surprised fans by revealing his own project: reprinting the entire Junior Genius Guides children’s book series after more than 10 years. From the pages that inspired kids to become… underwater nuclear engineers, to the colorful new editions set to be released this fall – all were announced by Jennings in a viral Instagram video. An emotional fan shared: “Thanks to Ken’s books, my child’s life has changed.”
Ken Jennings is keeping busy as Jeopardy! is on hiatus for the summer. The host announced an update on a project away from the game show.

On August 21, Jennings shared that his series of children’s books, Junior Genius Guides, is being revamped. “Very excited that, beginning this fall, @simonandschuster is reissuing my seven Junior Genius Guides as traditional paperbacks with new covers! (And some updates because—believe it or not—the first books came out over a decade ago! The original Junior Genius kids are now in college or jail!),” he wrote on Instagram.

The seven books include Maps and Geography, Greek Mythology, U.S. Presidents, Outer Space, The Human Body, Ancient Egypt, and Dinosaurs. The video only showed Maps and Geography and Greek Mythology, but did not show the new covers. He also did not share a link on how to order the new covers.

According to Ken Jennings’ website, “Each book in the series is crammed full of fascinating factoids about some field of knowledge, from geography to Greek myths to U.S. presidents, brought to life by the charming illustrations of Mr. Mike Lowery. Each book is structured like a day of school…if school were completely awesome! Seven periods full of facts, trivia, and pop quizzes, along with games for recess, craft projects for art class, recipes for lunch, and so on. Readers who pass the Official Junior Genius Certification Exam at the end of each book will be able to print out a certificate documenting their newfound expertise.”

In the comments, fans shared that their grown children still have the books, and one became a nuclear engineer on a submarine because of the books.

The Junior Genius Guides are not the only books Jennings has written. He started in 2006 with Brianiac, which details Jennings’ obsession with trivia. He then wrote another trivia book, Ken Jennings’s Trivia Almanac: 8,888 Questions in 365 Days, in 2008. He is also the author of Maphead, Because I Said So!, Planet Funny, 100 Places to See After You Die, and his most recent book, The Complete Kennections.

Keep an eye on Ken Jennings’ Instagram page for more information on the rereleases.