Did you know that Julius Caeser was tabbed by the people who were suppose to support him and Henry the VIII was left to rot in his room because no one had the nerve to inform the people that he had died? An interesting discussion of person's life can be told by starting with their death. In this intriguing book, the stories of famous people like Edgar Allen Poe, Albert Einstein, and Pocahontas are told with the focus being on their unique, and sometimes gory, deaths. Even if the reader thinks they know it all about these famous people, new details are revealed on every page.
Bragg, G. (2011). How they croaked: The awful ends of the awfully famous. NY: Walker.
- Evaluation Criteria
- Style
- As the text states, an “author has his or her unique style or voice, and you look for that distinctiveness in the presentation of the information.” Bragg definitely exhibits a style all her own as she relays the information about the unique lives and deaths of famous people. To begin with, the illustrations are playful, yet dark in their colors and nature. The caricatures of the famous dead people lighten the mood of this text about death. Also, the classic skull and crossbones and RIP’s remind the reader of the topic. Besides the illustrations, Bragg’s style can be observed in her syntactical choices. Although the text is fully informational, the language she chooses to use is of a light, friendly, youthful tone that can grab a young reader’s attention. The language is as if two young people were talking about the crazy deaths to each other. When Bragg talks about King Henry VIII “smelling like a giant rotten egg,” and that “some of his royal splendidness dripped out of the sides of the coffin overnight,” she creates very vivid imagery that very much appeals to youth readers.
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