Browse Books by Year

2012 List | 2011 List | 2010 List

Current List In Progress

Click here to see all the titles.

HOW THEY CROAKED: THE AWFUL ENDS OF THE AWFULLY FAMOUS

Croaked cover
Author Information
Author's Last Name: 
Bragg
Author's First Name: 
Georgia
Illustrator's First Name: 
Kevin
Illustrator's Last Name: 
O'Malley
Publisher: 
Walker
Publication Date: 
2011
2013 Nomination (not yet selected): 

With relish, wit, and obvious enjoyment, Bragg expounds upon the disgusting illnesses, medical treatments, ailments, deaths, and autopsies of 19 famous people through history. As much a primer on famous people and historical times as about their gory demises, this has far more to offer than it's mere yuck factor... although the explosion of Henry VIII's corpse will make a great section to booktalk! Ten to Fourteen. Rhona Campbell

Delightfully disgusting and gory!  Find out the lurid details behind the deaths of nineteen famous figures including Henry VIII who exploded inside his coffin and Beethoven, whose doctors cut a hole cut in his stomach to pump out 10 quarts of pus through a hose. Fainthearted readers beware!

Comments

Meeting Notes September

by ladamson - 09/29/2011 - 10:40am
Meeting Notes September 23
 
Positive Comments:
  • The book contains a lot of entertaining information with just enough context, just enough humor, just enough gore.
  • Fun facts added at the end of each entry work, making a reader want to learn more about the people themselves.
  • The “connections” page and back matter add to the overall value of the book.
Observations:
  • One school has used information from this book unavailable in regular history books for a bulletin board that many child viewers examine. 
Concerns:
  • The “connections” page near the end of the text needs dates so that readers will not have to flip back and forth searching through the text.
  • By the end, the author’s “fun facts” became weaker.
  • Repetition of medical facts in some of the entries toward the end reveal a tone that shows disapproval of their weaknesses rather than an acceptance that they also had foibles.