Module 11: Informational Books
"Einstein offered up one last theory...'Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generations. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves in the tree of life".
How They Croaked, Georgia Bragg
Book Summary:
Over the course of history men and women have lived and died. In fact, getting sick and dying can be a big, ugly mess-especially before the modern medical care that we all enjoy today. How They Croaked relays all the gory details of how nineteen world figures gave up the ghost. Readers will be fascinated well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in the world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911.
Reference: Bragg, G. (2011). How They Croaked. New York, N.Y.: Scholastic
Impressions:
This book can be added to any history curriculum. It's both informative, based on real facts, lots of research and it is very entertaining. Some of the stories I knew a little about, but most of this book was all new information to me. While the subject matter of death is not something you would teach a kindergartner about, it is part of life and history and can easily fit into a history curriculum. This book had so many interesting and useful facts about the history of medicine, personal hygiene, food storage, dentistry, bathroom etiquette so many modern conveniences that people in the modern world take for granted. What I took from this book is how much I admire even more some of these people. George Washington accomplished so many things for this country and helped to set the foundation to make this country what it is and all the while he was in tremendous pain nearly all the time. I also admire Galileo and Curie and Einstein for their work in science and technology and their steadfast beliefs that did not waver even in the face of execution. Every person in this book did change our world, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad.
While not all books can be judged by their covers, this is a book that would jump out at a kid and say "read me." It is so enticing you can almost say that a kid can be tricked into reading it simply by looking at the cover. Once they are reading though they won't realize they are learning history.
"Currently, informational books for children are designed to catch the eye. Careful attention is given to making both the cover and the contents visually appealing". (Tunnell, 2016, Children's Literature Briefly)
Professional Review:
How They Croaked begins with a clear warning: "If you don't have the guts for gore, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK." They are not kidding.
American icon Billy Joel once sang, "Only the good die young," but before modern medicine, almost everyone died young. The only difference was whether it was quick or slow and gruesome. Infections, malaria, gout, and tuberculosis were pretty common ways to go. King Tut, Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas, and Edgar Allan Poe were victims of such illnesses.
Queen Elizabeth and Galileo Galilei lived twice as long as their contemporaries, but they got it in the end just the same.
The other surefire way to go was by another's hand. Author, Georgia Bragg includes juicy details of Julius Caesar's murder and Marie Antoinette's—who got a real bad rap—execution.
Many people met their demises at the hands of doctors, whose remedies were mere guesswork. George Washington was bled to death. Beethoven suffered for days while doctors turned him into a hideous science experiment. And Albert Einstein? He made it to old age, but it sure is pretty insulting when someone steals your brain after you die.
Kevin O'Malley's illustrations pair with Bragg's gift for language to create what can truly and appropriately be described as "gallows humor." O'Malley's pictures are cartoony, grotesque versions of each person that highlight his or her demise. Marie Curie's fingertips did start to blacken after decades of exposure to radiation, and her picture certainly shows it.
Why am I raving about a book that tells you how famous people in history met their ends? Well, "funny" and "gross" are two of the biggest characteristics that reluctant readers, especially boys, look for when they do take the time to read.
Understandably, there is a bit of a stigma against books dealing with a bodily function, which How They Croaked certainly does. Still, it also manages to combine history and science with humor and gore in a way that many reluctant readers will connect to.
If this book was published when I was in middle school, I would have checked it out over and over, memorized my favorite parts, and grossed out my big sister with the gruesome facts within. Most importantly, I would have learned a lot and sought out more books like this one.
Speaking of which, there are two great non-fiction series to pair with How They Croaked.
A Wicked History chronicles the lives of nasty historical figures such as Vlad the Impaler, Rasputin, and Adolf Hitler. These relatively short biographies would make for a great school project about some downright terrible people.
The You Wouldn't Want To... series approaches significant points throughout civilization, then explains to you just why you might not want to time travel there. The sorts of diseases and medical ignorance displayed in How They Croaked is just one of the factors. The series goes in-depth, too. Assyrian Soldiers, Mayan Soothsayers, and Pony Express Riders are just some of the things you wouldn't want to be.
How They Croaked concludes with a positive affirmation that even though all of these historical people had nasty endings, it is often what they accomplished in life that made them important. Under all of those guts and gore, How They Croaked truly has a heart of gold.
Graziano, G (N.D.). [Review for How They Croaked by, Georgia Bragg]. Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Retrieved from http://www.librarypoint.org/how_they_croaked_bragg
How They Croaked begins with a clear warning: "If you don't have the guts for gore, DO NOT READ THIS BOOK." They are not kidding.
American icon Billy Joel once sang, "Only the good die young," but before modern medicine, almost everyone died young. The only difference was whether it was quick or slow and gruesome. Infections, malaria, gout, and tuberculosis were pretty common ways to go. King Tut, Christopher Columbus, Pocahontas, and Edgar Allan Poe were victims of such illnesses.
Queen Elizabeth and Galileo Galilei lived twice as long as their contemporaries, but they got it in the end just the same.
The other surefire way to go was by another's hand. Author, Georgia Bragg includes juicy details of Julius Caesar's murder and Marie Antoinette's—who got a real bad rap—execution.
Many people met their demises at the hands of doctors, whose remedies were mere guesswork. George Washington was bled to death. Beethoven suffered for days while doctors turned him into a hideous science experiment. And Albert Einstein? He made it to old age, but it sure is pretty insulting when someone steals your brain after you die.
Kevin O'Malley's illustrations pair with Bragg's gift for language to create what can truly and appropriately be described as "gallows humor." O'Malley's pictures are cartoony, grotesque versions of each person that highlight his or her demise. Marie Curie's fingertips did start to blacken after decades of exposure to radiation, and her picture certainly shows it.
Why am I raving about a book that tells you how famous people in history met their ends? Well, "funny" and "gross" are two of the biggest characteristics that reluctant readers, especially boys, look for when they do take the time to read.
Understandably, there is a bit of a stigma against books dealing with a bodily function, which How They Croaked certainly does. Still, it also manages to combine history and science with humor and gore in a way that many reluctant readers will connect to.
If this book was published when I was in middle school, I would have checked it out over and over, memorized my favorite parts, and grossed out my big sister with the gruesome facts within. Most importantly, I would have learned a lot and sought out more books like this one.
Speaking of which, there are two great non-fiction series to pair with How They Croaked.
A Wicked History chronicles the lives of nasty historical figures such as Vlad the Impaler, Rasputin, and Adolf Hitler. These relatively short biographies would make for a great school project about some downright terrible people.
The You Wouldn't Want To... series approaches significant points throughout civilization, then explains to you just why you might not want to time travel there. The sorts of diseases and medical ignorance displayed in How They Croaked is just one of the factors. The series goes in-depth, too. Assyrian Soldiers, Mayan Soothsayers, and Pony Express Riders are just some of the things you wouldn't want to be.
How They Croaked concludes with a positive affirmation that even though all of these historical people had nasty endings, it is often what they accomplished in life that made them important. Under all of those guts and gore, How They Croaked truly has a heart of gold.
Graziano, G (N.D.). [Review for How They Croaked by, Georgia Bragg]. Central Rappahannock Regional Library, Retrieved from http://www.librarypoint.org/how_they_croaked_bragg
Library Uses:
Each Halloween in our community, the museum works together with the local cemetery to provide a historical tour of the cemetery. I think our library could help to promote this tour. We have a sizeable collection of books from and about the Texas Panhandle with several books about the haunted, mysterious and hidden past of this area. We could spotlight those books and this book in our newsletter and on display to help promote the cemetery tour through the month of October.
Each Halloween in our community, the museum works together with the local cemetery to provide a historical tour of the cemetery. I think our library could help to promote this tour. We have a sizeable collection of books from and about the Texas Panhandle with several books about the haunted, mysterious and hidden past of this area. We could spotlight those books and this book in our newsletter and on display to help promote the cemetery tour through the month of October.
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