Awesome, Disgusting, Unusual Facts about the Middle Ages
From the Set Gross, Awesome History
What was life like for kings and knights in the Middle Ages? Pretty disgusting! Castles smelled terrible with poop chutes and mucky moats--and stay clear of the treacherous dungeon! If you got sick, remedies might include animal poop or leeches. Gross! Struggling and reluctant readers will be fascinated to learn awesome and unusual facts about disgusting medieval jobs, archaic weapons and torture devices, and the Black Plague. Carefully leveled text will have kids squirming with delight as they rush to share wacky facts with their friends.
Illustrations mixed with historical art and sidebars keep kids engaged. A table of contents, glossary with pronunciations, further resources, and an index all enhance comprehension.
Interest Level | Grade 4 - Grade 6 |
---|---|
Reading Level | Grade 2 |
Dewey Number | 909.07 |
Lexile | 500L |
ATOS Reading Level | 3.2 |
Guided Reading Level | O |
Language | English |
Publisher | Black Rabbit Books |
---|---|
Format | Reinforced book |
ISBN | 9781623108915 |
Copyright | 2024 |
Number of Pages | 24 |
Dimensions | 6.5 x 9 |
Graphics | Full-color photographs |
SLJ Review of Gross, Awesome History
Historical facts can be awesome, disgusting, or both at the same time, and readers who want to know more can read this series. From gladiators and mummies, to the Middle Ages and the American Civil War, there’s a variety of information to learn. Images and infographics support the text, and bolded vocabulary words and pop-up facts, such as “People in the 1600s used mummy flesh in their medicine” (Mummies), grab the reader’s attention. Following significant events and important people in history, the text is short, and doesn’t romanticize the past “People in the Wild West dealt with terrible diseases… Fleas spread typhus… A mosquito bite could give you yellow fever…” (Wild West). The back matter has three short answer questions, a glossary and an index, and additional resources. Some of the facts are, as the titles indicate, gross, which will be the appeal to certain readers. Similar reads include the “Weird But True” and “FACTopia!” series. VERDICT For older elementary readers who love learning gross facts.