How They Croaked: The Awful Ends to the Awfully Famous
By Georgia Bragg
Illustrated by Kevin O’Malley
Walker & Co., 2011. 184 p.
This is probably one of the funniest biography collections I have ever read. And that is saying something. In this book Bragg starts off with a warning that “if you don’t have the guts for gore, do not read this book.” (And even though there are bits that are a bit gruesome, Bragg writes in such a way that the true history is presented almost comically—which will hopefully make the girls laugh.) Then readers can go on to learn things about how famous people like Cleopatra, King Tut, King Henry VIII, and Albert Einstein died. For example, most people think that Cleopatra died thanks to a snake bite (as written in a Shakespearean play; however, readers learn that Cleopatra really died (probably) due to poison. Other gruesome and gory details of how George Washington died (an infection of the mouth that would be cured today by antibiotics) or Marie Curie (who died thanks to extreme exposure to the radiation she was studying). This book is not for the squeamish reader, but it is an interesting read to give a little more perspective on famous people (and their lives and death) in history—and that is why it is the book for September’s Mother/Daughter Book Club. If you would like to register to be part of this program, click this link.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
By C. S. Lewis
HarperTrophy, 1950. 189 p.
In the second edition of “The Chronicles of Narnia” (at least second according to chronology of the stories, not according to when the books were actually published) the adventures of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy while in Narnia begin. With a backdrop of World War II in England, the four children are shipped off to the English countryside to avoid the London bombings. While exploring the house, Lucy discovers a passageway into another world—a world full of snow and winter and where animals that talk. The children soon discover that all is not as it seems in the world. There is an evil witch that wants to take over everything. With courage and determination the four siblings learn to trust in themselves and their new home-away-from-home. This classic foray into children’s literature will be a fun book to discuss at the September Mother/Son Book Club. If you would like to register to be part of this program click this link.
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