How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous - Hardcover

Bragg, Georgia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802798179 ISBN 13: 9780802798176

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books, 2011

Synopsis

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. For example:

It is believed that Henry VIII's remains exploded within his coffin while lying in state.
Doctors "treated" George Washington by draining almost 80 ounces of blood before he finally kicked the bucket.
Right before Beethoven wrote his last notes, doctors drilled a hole in his stomach without any pain medication.
Readers will be interested well past the final curtain, and feel lucky to live in a world with painkillers, X-rays, soap, and 911.

About this title

About the Author:

Georgia Bragg is the author of Matisse on the Loose, a middle-grade novel. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and two cats.
www.georgiabragg.com

Kevin O'Malley is the co-author and illustrator of the popular Miss Malarkey series, as well as the New York Times bestseller Gimme Cracked Corn and I Will Share and many other books for children. He lives in Maryland.
www.booksbyomalley.com

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* From George Little Mouth of Horrors Washington to Marie You Glow, Girl Curie, Bragg chronicles with ghoulish glee the chronic or fatal maladies that afflicted 19 historical figures. Nonsqueamish readers will be entranced by her riveting descriptions of King Tuts mummification (and the brutal treatment that mummy has received in modern times); the thoroughly septic doctoring that hastened or at least contributed to the deaths of Mozart, Napoleon, James A. Garfield, and others; the literal dissolution of Henry VIIIs body (While lying in state, it is believed that his toxic remains exploded, and some of his royal splendidness dripped out the sides of the coffin overnight); and the outrageous fates of Einsteins brain, Galileos fingers, and other coroners souvenirs. The author tucks quick notes on at least marginally relevant topics, such as leeching, scurvy, presidential assassins, and mummy eyes (If mummy eyeballs are rehydrated, they return to almost normal size), between the chapters and closes with generous lists of nontechnical print resources on each of her subjects. OMalleys cartoon portraits and spot art add just the right notes of humor to keep the contents from becoming too gross. Usually. Despite occasional farfetched claimsits hard to believe that Charles Darwin puked four million times, even though he was fanatical about keeping personal health recordsthis all-too-informative study deserves the wild popularity it will without doubt acquire. Grades 5-8. --John Peters

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0802798179
• ISBN 13: 9780802798176
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192
• Illustrator: O'Malley Kevin