How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous.

Bragg, G. (2011). How they croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. NY: Bloomsbury.

    You don’t have to be obsessed with death to find this book intriguing. The short, yet thoroughly informative chapters tell an interesting story of the life and death of some of history’s most famous characters. Never will you be more appreciative of educated doctors, antibiotics or even soap! Reading the details of these painful and at times, unimaginable deaths will make you cringe, while simultaneously having a new fondness for people like George Washington, Charles Dickens, and Cleopatra. The book is occasionally gory, which is addressed in the warning at the beginning of the book but also serves as a great avenue for exposing kids (4th grade and up) to an interesting view of history. 

Textbook Assignment #2

Evaluative Criteria - Organization

     Each person chronicled in this book gets a thorough, yet clear explanation of his or her death story. It is then followed up by two pages of fact, historical medical practices, timelines, wordplay, and general trivia. The table of contents and index allow quick access to each story of the nearly 20 poor souls documented in this book.  

Evaluative Criteria - Design

         Cryptic font and chapter titles written on headstone are only part of the design choices made by illustrator Kevin O’Malley. He cleverly uses the grim reaper, black crows and skull-and-crossbones page numbers to set the tone for this book. While the topic may be grim, the illustrations don’t allow the book to take itself too seriously. Add to that the not-so-flattering drawings of the deceased and you have an unexpectedly entertaining book about death.

Teaching Books
http://www.teachingbooks.net/tb.cgi?tid=23590

Book Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_g1DKSH6T8