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You probably know that King Tut is dead. But do you know how he died? Or how he was prepared for mummification, or what Howard Carter did to poor Tut’s mummy?

Tutankhamun is the first of nineteen “awfully famous” people whose death is discussed in Georgia Bragg’s How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous, with illustrations by Kevin O’Malley. As you might guess, this is a book about death. And not just any old deaths, but gross, disgusting, and miserable deaths. On the few occasions in which the death itself wasn’t actually too gruesome, relatively speaking, what happened to a person’s remains after death, well… As the introduction to the book warns, “If you don’t have the guts for gore, do not read this book.”

Bragg’s irreverent, sometimes snarky tone (e.g., subtitle of the Marie Curie chapter: “You Glow, Girl”) makes How They Croaked a casual, quick read. Beginning with King Tut, Bragg covers her subjects in chronological order. Each brief chapter is kicked off with a caricature by O’Malley. After explaining why the subject was famous, Bragg then focuses on describing the death in gleeful detail. Several illustrations are interspersed throughout the chapter, which concludes with collections of facts pertaining to the subject or the time period.

Take the musician and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for example. After describing Mozart as former child prodigy who “grew into a gawky teen with a huge head. He still cried easily and always loved a good fart joke, but his cute, moneymaking prodigy years were definitely over. His father was not amused.” (p. 68) Bragg then goes on to explain how doctors attempted to treat Mozart’s ailments with leeches and “concoctions of  warmed turpentine, wax, powdered Spanish fly, and mustard.” And, for anyone curious about leeches, at the end of the chapter, you can learn the steps for successful leeching and recommended leech dosages for adults.

Then there’s James A. Garfield. While the chapter’s subtitle, “James Who?” reflects his general obscurity, it’s fair to say that I will no longer forget exactly who he was. I don’t know what party he belonged to or whether he actually accomplished anything substantial as president, but I do know that I found the chapter devoted to him the most disgusting.

Other subjects of How They Croaked include Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Napoleon, and Charles Darwin. There’s not much diversity—the historical personages are most European and mostly male—which was about the only thing I was disappointed by.

As part of describing some pretty horrible deaths, Bragg also integrates information about how the lack of medical knowledge and technology affected a few of the deaths. (See: Garfield, James A.). Not to mention, it’s not always how a person dies, but what happens to their body after death that can disturb.

Readers can browse How They Croaked or read it in one sitting. Chapters do not need to be read in order and it makes for good recreational reading. While I’d recommend it more for entertainment than research purposes, it does include a comprehensive bibliography as part of the backmatter.

You can read the Beethoven chapter and listen to a short interview with Bragg at the NPR website.

Book source: ARC from publisher.

Cross-posted at Guys Lit Wire.

The Children's Book Council hosts the Children's Choice Book Awards. The favorite book finalists for this year were determined by close to 15,000 children and teens. I highly recommend checking out these books!

by Phyllis Root www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Paula Bunyan (Paul Bunyan’s sister) as main character
*Rating: Paula Bunyan is a clever, cute picture book with a twist on the old classic Paul Bunyan tale. Phyllis Root has thrown a little environmental education in there, too.

Short, short summary: Did you know Paul Bunyan had a little (well, not quite so little) sister named, Paula? Well, according to Phyllis Root, he did! And she’s as lovable of a giant as he is. Instead of a blue ox, Paula has a grizzly bear as her sidekick. She spends her days catching 100-pound fish, singing harmony with the wolves, and rescuing her bear from mosquitoes. Things are going along pretty well when Paula notices that all her beloved trees are being cut down and not replaced by some irresponsible lumberjacks. She quickly devises a plan (WARNING! WARNING! Read this section before you read to kids–no big deal, but Paula undresses to her “skivvies”, just be prepared) to get rid of the lumberjacks and replenish the forest.

So, what do I do with this book?

1. One of the easiest activities to do with this book is compare and contrast the story of Paul Bunyan to Paula Bunyan using a Venn diagram. For younger children, you can do this as a shared writing activity. For older children, they can each make their own Venn diagram.

2. Students can write their own Paula Bunyan adventure. You can have them write it as a) a letter from Paula to Paul about an important event b) a journal entry about a day in the life of Paula Bunyan c) in the same voice as the book and another adventure of Paula’s.

3. Students can study tall tales with this book and make a list of characteristics of tall tales. You can also talk to students about exaggeration/hyperbole and why authors use this technique in their stories.

Have you used Paula Bunyan in your classroom? If so, leave us a comment and tell us about it. Do you have a favorite tall tale or fractured tall tale? Let us know!