How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous by Georgia Bragg

May 18, 2013 Kaethe rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-aloud, age-middle-grade, death, history, medicine, nonfiction

2011 October 4

One of the things usually left out of children's books is dying. Not death, characters are dead all the time, but the miserable, painful, agonizing bit of dying is usually glossed over. But kids like the gross, the agonizing, the unbelievable "who thought that was a good idea?" craziness of other times and cultures. Bragg has written a really entertaining book that manages to give the reader a look at what was laughably called "medicine", a little of the business of ruling countrie...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Jake Fujihara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous was a great and interesting book. My personal favorite was the story of Albert Einstein. All of the other stories were about how they died, but Einstein's was about after he died. It was mainly about what happened to his brain, and the story was quite interesting and very descriptive. I also enjoyed how Georgia Bragg used so many replacements for the words "death" and "dead". Instead she used words such as "croaked", "kicked the bucket", and...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Brittany rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

'How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous' a 192 page non-finction book written by Georgia Bragg. The book cites famous people of the past such as Cleopatra, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Edgar Allen Poe being among my "favorites". As the title suggest, 'Croaked' tells the stories of how some of the most well known historical figures of the past died and details of their, more often than not, gruesome ends. I loved this book! I had this stigma around non-fiction books that was totally sh...more

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Jan 12, 2012 Owen Hatzinger rated it 5 of 5 stars

How They Croaked Book Review Owen Hatzinger
By: Georgia Bragg 1/12/12

Over the course of history, men and women have lived and died. Whether someone had a lung explode, was stabbed to death or dies of poison, dying is one big ugly mess, especially before modern medical care. This book was a very interesting book, especially how some of the most famous people in history died.

The theme is like humor and gore. It doesn’t have a lesson. I like how the author wrote in a graphic way. It is really ac...more

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May 08, 2013 Kris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Bragg, G. (2011) How they croaked: the awful ends of the awfully famous.(K. O'Malley, Illustrator). New York: Walker & Company

Genre: Collective Biography

Awards: American Library Association Notable Books for Children (Winner 2012)

Format: Print –hardback

Selection Process: YALSA Teen Book Finder, Bowker Books in Print, Council Rock Summer Reading List 2011

Review:

Pus, boils, fever, poison. How They Croaked gives you the goriest details for some of history’s most famous heroes and villains conne...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Kristen Jorgensen rated it 4 of 5 stars

You would think a book about the gross and painful deaths of historic hero’s would not be a fun book to read, but it was very interesting. Hearing about bloodletting, strokes, pneumonia, leaching, and other ancient remedies actually made an entertaining book that boys and girls will love. Ironically we read this after my daughter got a foot infection from a puncture wound. Something that could have killed her should she lived as recently as the 1800’s. While she lay at home nursing her foot she...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Jake Fujihara rated it 5 of 5 stars

How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous was a great and interesting book. My personal favorite was the story of Albert Einstein. All of the other stories were about how they died, but Einstein's was about after he died. It was mainly about what happened to his brain, and the story was quite interesting and very descriptive. I also enjoyed how Georgia Bragg used so many replacements for the words "death" and "dead". Instead she used words such as "croaked", "kicked the bucket", and...more

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Feb 25, 2013 Erik Sievertsen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Georgia Bragg and Kevin O’Malley have created a book that, even though it is non-fiction, everyone will love. The book shows the interesting ways that nineteen very famous people died. It also shows other interesting facts about those people.
Basically in the book there are nineteen interesting stories of the deceased. A few of the people are Albert Einstein, King Tut, Julius Caesar, Beethoven, and George Washington. In a few of the stories it explains a few myths about things that were connect...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Martina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was disgusting! The specific descriptions mixed in with the comical style of writing of the author made this book enjoyable but it also gave me a good idea of what gross things these people went through. Although book talked mostly about "How they croaked" (obiously) the author incorporated a lot of history in as well. The author described the setting, and character, as well as what they were doing and what was going on in that time period. I learned About queens and kings of foreign c...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Molly added it

The book is about famous people and how they died. You would think that famous people had uneventful deaths, but some of them are gory and exciting. The book talks a little about each person’s life and then goes into detail about how they died. It talked about how they got the disease and then what they went through or the circumstances of their deaths. Some of the most interesting stories were Marie Antoinette who got her head chopped off, Beethoven who got massive lead poisoning , and George W...more

The book is about famous people and how they died. You would think that famous people had uneventful deaths, but some of them are gory and exciting. The book talks a little about each person’s life and then goes into detail about how they died. It talked about how they got the disease and then what they went through or the circumstances of their deaths. Some of the most interesting stories were Marie Antoinette who got her head chopped off, Beethoven who got massive lead poisoning , and George Washington who died because he got an infection in his mouth. And that’s just three of the nineteen stories!
There was a chapter for each person, with about 15 chapters total. The chapters were chronological through time-starting with King Tut and ending with Albert Einstein. At the end of each chapter there were two pages with random and interesting facts about the person including lists of other people who died the same way. At the beginning of each chapter was an exaggerated cartoon drawing of the person. Within the chapter there were little pictures of different parts of the story but they were all drawings and they were all exaggerated. Each chapter also had a picture of a gravestone that said “R.I.P”
There was a table of contents in the beginning of the book that showed which page each story was on. I really enjoyed reading this book. The author used clever and quirky humor, irony, and sarcasm which makes it fun to read a book about the deaths of famous people.
Something that could have been improved is that if there were pictures from that time, the author could have added them so it wasn’t just the exaggerated illustrations.
Kids ages nine and up should read this book because it’s really interesting and you can learn a lot from it, but at the same time it’s really funny and is a quick, fun, and easy read.
I would give this book 3 out of 4 stars because it’s a fun read, I couldn’t put it down. But at the same time, some parts were bland and a little boring and not very engaging. (less)

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Oct 18, 2012 Din rated it 5 of 5 stars

Before you even start reading this book, it informs you on the gore and explicitly. There might be some readers who wouldn't recommend this book, but I enjoyed every page of it. After reading "How They Croaked" I learned facts and details on the famous people that I've always heard stories about. I found this book to be great in providing examples for character strengths. This is because, it explains the famous persons life in detail. The chapter that I enjoyed the most was on Einstein, because...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read

What a great book! I saw this book at the library, and had to check it out for sheer pleasure. I'm sure the subject matter, the artwork, and the humor would have a lot of appeal to young readers and adults alike. The book covers in humorous graphic language what led up to and ended with the deaths of a number of very famous people, including King Tut, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Christopher Columbus, Henry V111, and many more, as well as the coincidences of connections and intersections between ma...more What a great book! I saw this book at the library, and had to check it out for sheer pleasure. I'm sure the subject matter, the artwork, and the humor would have a lot of appeal to young readers and adults alike. The book covers in humorous graphic language what led up to and ended with the deaths of a number of very famous people, including King Tut, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Christopher Columbus, Henry V111, and many more, as well as the coincidences of connections and intersections between many of them.

For example, Napoleon's men found the Rosetta Stone, which helped decipher the hieroglyphics in King Tut's tomb. Mozart listened to Beethoven playing the piano. Beethoven planned to name his third symphony after Napoleon but was angered by Napoleon crowning himself as emperor. Mozart and Marie Antoinette met as children when they were young and Mozart performed for Marie Antoinette's family. Marie Antoinette's grandniece married Napoleon, who took Galileo's trial records. Einstein credited Galileo in his theories, and Einstein and Madame Curie met each other.

Here's some of the story of President James Garfield, who was shot by an assassin on July 2, 1881. The bullet was not what killed him. In the early days of the medical profession, a patient would often have been better off suffering through his miseries than to put himself into the hands of the doctors. Garfield's doctors, 10 of them, all poked their dirty fingers inside the bullet wound in an effort to locate the bullet. Then they probed the bullet hole with bullet probes, and reamed a new 12-inch long path in Garfield's back, but still couldn't find it. This began an 80-day hunt for the bullet, with lots of letters of advice from people all over the country, including help from Alexander Graham Bell. Bell devised a contraption that would send a noise over his telephone receiver when it passed over the bullet. Nobody told him that Garfield was lying on top of a metal coil spring mattress, so over and over again Bell's device gave false readings.

Of course, the wound soon became infected, which the doctors took as a sign that it was healing. They enlarged the wound so that they could drain it with a rubber hose twice a day, dug out pieces of fabric from his shirt, and pieces of his rib.

After weeks of wasting away, Garfield was delirious, had high fevers, and threw up everything he ate. The doctors decided no more food by mouth. He was instead fed eggs, beef extract and whiskey - rectally. His whole body became infected and he eventually died of infection, blood poisoning, and a heart attack, on September 19, 1881. He had lost 100 pounds in 3 months.

The terrible irony is that the autopsy showed that the bullet was nowhere near where the doctors thought it was. It had never touched any vital organs, and he would have been fine if the doctors had kept their dirty hands off of him.

(less)

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Jul 19, 2012 Brandi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: boy, nonfiction, ya

“WARNING: If you don’t have the guts for gore, do not read this book!” This bright yellow warning below a skull and cross bones will not only give students a fair warning, but will have some of the reluctant readers super excited about finding out what is inside these pages. The gore, rooted in medicine and science, does not get so intense as to frighten middle school students, but should probably not be in elementary classrooms. Georgia Bragg’s use of humor lightens up the mood of this text con...more “WARNING: If you don’t have the guts for gore, do not read this book!” This bright yellow warning below a skull and cross bones will not only give students a fair warning, but will have some of the reluctant readers super excited about finding out what is inside these pages. The gore, rooted in medicine and science, does not get so intense as to frighten middle school students, but should probably not be in elementary classrooms. Georgia Bragg’s use of humor lightens up the mood of this text considerably. The quirky and appropriate illustrations by Kevin O’Malley also serve this purpose.
Each of the 19 short entries includes a very brief biography explaining why the person is important, a few factoids from their life, and a very detailed description of the circumstances of their death. In the case of Albert Einstein, a description of the adventures of his corpse is also included. At the very end of each entry is a section with timelines, graphs and charts that go into the history and science of the preceding chapter, often connecting it to today’s world. At the very end of the book is a fascinating timeline that shows numerous connections between the figures mentioned. Some met each other, some were related, some researched earlier ones, and some married the descendants of others.
The entries are organized in chronological order, starting with King Tut and ending with Albert Einstein. Most of the figures should be familiar to them, though if they aren’t there is enough of a biography that students will still understand why they are important, and it may even encourage further research. Many students may not know who Marie Antoinette is, but after reading about the guillotine, her itchy and unsanitary hairdo, and her famous last words, they may want to know even more. This title could also be used to help reluctant researchers start a paper on any one of these figures. By no means could this be their only or main resource, but it may help spark an interest in one of these people.
Teachers will definitely want to try this one with middle school boys. This title has potential to lend itself to social studies, science, and history. The engaging cover and the warning of too much guts and gore will have certain readers chomping at the bit.

My review can also be found on Booksource.com(less)

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Jun 21, 2012 Ashlee Christians added it

Shelves: children-s-lit

This book is from the IRA Children’s and Young Adults' Book Awards.

The audience is young adults, most likely older middle school through high school grades. this book is all about the deaths of 19 historical figures. Along with the true stories of these deaths, there are some cartoon like pictures that the young adult readers will love. I really enjoyed reading the interesting facts and stories in this book, and I believe other readers will to!

Ebook: Salamanders

I chose the Ebook on PebbleGo.com...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Michelle David marked it as reference-collection

Biographical Reference

Name: Michelle David

Bragg, G. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous. New York: Walker & Co.

Dewey: 920
Reading Level: 5.2 (Ages 9 and up)
Category: Nonfiction Reference/Collective Biography

Review Citation:
Y.K.S. (2011). [Review of the book How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous]. Booklist, 108(8), 62-64.

Description: This reference contains information about how 19 world figures met their demise. It was one of the ALA’s Notable Chil...more

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Jun 09, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, nonfiction, middle-grade

Georgia Bragg has struck just the right note by describing how famous people through the ages died. She describes the deaths of King Tut, Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth, Mozart, and President Garfield, among others. A few deaths skimped on details -- Garfield was shot by a crazy man, but no other details about the assassination are given. And I noticed that the last few chapters seemed a bit sloppier than the first ones. That being said, an organized bibliography is included for each per...more

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Nov 14, 2011 Karin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tween, juvenile-nonfiction, young-adult-nonfiction, death, famous-people, medical-procedures, medicine

If you’ve ever wondered (or even if you never have) how King Tut, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Galileo, Mozart, Beethoven, Napoleon, Marie Curie (and many more) died, then this book is for you. In some cases there is still some speculation and mystery surrounding the deaths of these famous people, but Georgia Bragg has done her best to unearth the truth (without having to get her hands dirty performing any autopsies herself – good decision). But this book isn’t just a...more

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Oct 24, 2011 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ncbla

In short chapters, the author describes the lives--very briefly--and then with more detail, the demise of nineteen famous men and women. She uses clever word play and exquisitely described passages to tell in a chronological fashion about the last moments of King Tut, Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Christopher Columbus, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Pocahontas, Galileo Galilei, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Marie Antoinette, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ludwig Van Beethove, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles D...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Hilary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: grades-5-6, grades-7-8, non-fiction

From Julius Caesar to Albert Einstein people throughout history have DIED and they have died terrible, painful deaths that no one would wish on their worst enemies. The subject matter is kept lighthearted with humorous prose and illustrations (by Kevin O'Malley). This is like tricky learning. One just might absorb facts like what island Napoleon was exiled to, or that the president didn't have the secret service as bodyguards until 1907.
I picked this up intending to give it a quick glance and ju...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars

The subtitle says it all: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. Some the awfully famous whose ends Georgia Bragg tells her readers about are King Tut, Albert Einstein, Galileo, Charles Dickens, Marie Curie, and James Garfield, among others.

Bragg spares no detail in telling us how the people she chose to be included in her book died.

In addition to the details of their deaths, Bragg also includes other interesting tidbits of history. For instance, after telling us about George Washington's stran...more

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Jul 11, 2011 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I debated for quite some time about whether to read this book. There is after all a warning at the beginning that the book contains "the blood, sweat, and guts of real people." And I've never been one for grossness. But in the end I decided that in order to share it with my students, many of whom I knew would be fascinated by this book, I needed to read it.

This book specifically looks at the lives (briefly) and unpleasant 'ends' of some of the worlds most famous people. Included are King Tut, Cl...more I debated for quite some time about whether to read this book. There is after all a warning at the beginning that the book contains "the blood, sweat, and guts of real people." And I've never been one for grossness. But in the end I decided that in order to share it with my students, many of whom I knew would be fascinated by this book, I needed to read it.

This book specifically looks at the lives (briefly) and unpleasant 'ends' of some of the worlds most famous people. Included are King Tut, Cleopatra, Henry VIII, Pocahontas, George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin, etc. I confess that I didn't really expect to learn anything new. I love history and most of the people Bragg talks about are well-known. But I did learn things that surprised me. For example, I had no idea that Charles Dickens struggled with mental illness or that Albert Einstein's brain was stolen from his body before it was cremated. And I seriously had to wince reading the details of Christopher Columbus's numerous physical maladies.

This books is definitely not for the squeamish, but Bragg's light-hearted take on the subject keeps things moving while convincing the modern reader to be very grateful for modern medicine. For example, George Washington came down with what modern doctor's think was a throat infection that today could be cured by antibiotics. But his doctors used the following 'remedies,' bloodletting (numerous times, they took over a third of his blood), blister-beetle treatment (you don't want to know!), a dose of calomel (contains mercury, which is highly poisonous, tartar emetic (to make him vomit), and a variety of different poultices. No wonder he died!

Kevin O'Malley's illustrations provide a nice compliment to Bragg's style of writing and the sidebars provide extra tidbits of information. For example, did you know that July, Julian Calendar, Roman leaders, Czar, Kaiser, and C-section were all named after Julius Caesar. Also the first known autopsy was performed on Caesar. One would doubt the need for that because with 23 stab wound, the cause of death should be obvious, but it turns out that only ONE of the wounds was actually fatal. Apparently the assassins need to work on their aim.

I'm going to stop here because I wouldn't want to deprive you of the 'delights' of reading this book for yourself. Even if it doesn't work for you, I guarantee that someone in your life will be delighted to read it and share all the cool facts they learn with you! :)(less)

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Apr 27, 2011 Sarai rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-nonfiction, nonfiction-historical, general-nonfiction, historical

I think the title of the book is a bit misleading, because the book isn't always about how they croaked, but what happened after. It also gives a brief rundown of their lives before they croaked.

This is the kind of book I love because it has short little chapters with tidbits of interesting information. The description of the person's life/death is also followed by more information on other random things, like gout, the sign language alphabet, and phobias. Easy, fun read!

Product Description
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Mar 26, 2011 Angie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

This book was awesome. It was irreverent and informative at the same time. I learned all kinds of things about the famous people discussed in the book. Like the fact that Charles Dickens was manic depressive and that James Garfield would have survived his gunshot wound if his doctors would have left him alone. There are fascinating facts about each of the people and they are in short little chapter so you are not overwhelmed with details. Bragg also adds little bits of information after each cha...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Rose Ann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012, middle-grade

What a great book!

I can't decide which was my favorite "death" to read about. After each one, I think to myself...ohhh, that was my favorite one....lol

So many interesting facts, (and creepy, gory ones too)!
Each chapter is a couple of pages. First interesting facts and a brief life story of each famous person, and how they came to their demise!
And other random facts at the end of each chapter! (Did you know that 3 of the first 5 Presidents of the US died on July 4th?)

A fantastic book for middle...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Kay Mcgriff rated it 5 of 5 stars

Are you looking for an informational text that is guaranteed not to bore you? Trust me. There are plenty of them out there. I just finished one of them--How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous (Scholastic 2011) by Georgia Bragg. As I read I found myself alternately snorting with laughter and gagging over the gore.

Bragg gives an irreverent but information-packed look at the deathly ends of nineteen famous people, from King Tut to Albert Einstein. After finishing reading about these...more

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May 14, 2012 Joella www.cinjoella.com rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: yalsa-best-of-the-best, non-fiction, audio, young-adult, reluctant-reader

This was my 13th book for the YALSA Best Books reading challenge. I thought a gruesome book for the 13th would be fitting. I didn't expect to love this one. I did!

So this is a non-fiction book about how famous people died. It has loads of gory details about medical reasons that people such as King Tut or George Washington died. There are lots of random facts as well. And there is bit at the end about how all these famous people are connected. (Such as the fact that Napoleon read Caesar's books f...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Deb Tyo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

"WARNING:

If You Don't Have the Guts for Gore, Do Not Read This Book"

King Tut...Julius Caesar...Cleopatra...Christopher Columbus...Henry VII...Elizabeth I...Pocahontas...Galileo Galilei...Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...Marie Antoinette...George Washington...Napoleon Bonaparte...Ludwig Van Beethoven...Edgar Allen Poe...Charles Dickens...James A. Garfield...Charles Darwin...Marie Curie...Albert Einstein...

You're familiar with the lives of these people, right? But do you know anything about their death...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Dave rated it 5 of 5 stars

This will be on my currently reading list until I get through it a few times. Frankie and I haven't been able to read fiction together, ever. I tried forever, but just fall asleep. So we're off into non fiction and this is a blast, short stories about famous people who have died.

It's not dark, just well written, interesting with lots of fun historical tangents along the way.

It's not in Kindle format! We got it in the library. I promise to return it soon.

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Aug 24, 2012 TeenNonFiction Teton County Library rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, boys

TCL Call #: YA 920 Bragg G

D-5 Stars

I thought I'd just flip through this book, and ended up loving it so much I read it cover to cover in one night. History class bored me to tears, but I couldn't get enough of the way this book represents these historically famous people and their deaths. I wanted more.

The format is accessible and the paragraphs are broken by fun facts like: "If mummy eyeballs are rehydrated, they return to almost normal size." (Did you know that? I didn't know that!) Each chap...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading, "How they Croaked..." by Georgia Bragg, I honestly was disturbed. This book disturbed me because of how dramatically the famous people died. Now, I honestly believe that people in general back then were never able to die with peace. The book did gross me out but it got me fascinated. There were some interesting facts but there were also very boring topics. The interesting facts that got me engaged was during the synopsis of the famous person's life and how they lived. But what got...more

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