How They Croaked has 19 chapters detailing the lives and deaths of 19 famous people. From Albert Einstein to Henry VIII, this book covers a wide range of historical figures. And while it’s interesting to learn how they died, it’s also nice to get a snapshot of why they were famous in the first place, and sometimes, the influence they have had on the world even after their death.
For example, Beethoven. He died in 1827, and during the autopsy some of the bones from his skull disappeared. He was exhumed in 1863 and placed in a bigger coffin, and while they were at it, they reexamined his skull before reburying him. He was exhumed yet again in 1888 to be put in a bigger, nicer cemetery, and they took yet another look at his skull, where they discovered that even more skull pieces were missing. Apparently people were obsessed with Beethoven’s noggin, repeatedly exhuming him to examine it and then stealing pieces of it. And you know why? Because his music is that good. Everyone wants to know what made him tick because his music is still popular nearly 200 years later.
I recently started a new job working at an elementary school library. (Why yes, that is my dream job, and yes, I think it’s going to be a perfect fit.) We were looking for something to read to the older grades at Halloween, and my co-worker suggested this book. I took it home to give it a read, and I have to say, I liked it WAY more than I thought I would. I was concerned it would be gory or overly morbid (mostly thanks to the cover art), but it’s really not. While Bragg isn’t afraid to go into details about illnesses and death, she stays away from anything too gruesome, and focuses more on the historical importance of these people than I had anticipated. I’m actually having a hard time narrowing down which chapters to read to the students, because I found them all fascinating and engaging.
That being said, it still has a lot of details about death, so you wouldn’t want to read this with younger children. But I think it’ll be the perfect fit for 5th or 6th graders – a history lesson with just a little bit of death makes it a perfect Halloween read.
4 stars.
BOOKBURGER 