Mummies—dead bodies elaborately wrapped up—might rank pretty high on the scale of all things disgusting. But readers should be ready for an eye-opening read on some of ancient Egypt’s gross history, such as the dirty details of what really happens to bodies as they’re prepared for mummification, in this book. This gleefully gut-churning volume offers up some very vile medicinal practices, culinary delicacies, political and battle practices, and more. Readers will come away from this memorable read with a fresh perspective on the lives and customs of this famous (and now famously gross) ancient civilization.
Readers may be familiar with the astounding innovations and ideas developed by the Ancient Greeks. They may not know, however, how truly repulsive some of the practices of the Ancient Greeks were. Be prepared for stomach-churning descriptions of the plumbing and hygiene of Ancient Greece, not to mention culinary delights like goat lung and brain omelets. Medical practices that would not be approved by the FDA today, such as bloodletting and vivisection, are also detailed. This totally disgusting—but entirely fun—volume will have students wondering what practices from their own lives will one day be described as "totally gross."
A unique overview of the fashion and dress, diet, hygiene, medicine, and other cultural aspects of the ancient Chinese. This entertaining yet informative book details practices that may seem peculiar to today’s students, while respectfully contextualizing another culture and time, especially one as ancient, rich, and foundational as that of ancient China. Readers are drawn in by the sometimes distasteful details—the fun “gross-out” factor—but also gain an appreciation of the inventiveness, sophistication, and practicality of the ancient Chinese. Overall, this title is a lively exploration of the scientific and cultural practices of a pre-modern civilization.
Bloody sacrifices, disgusting diets, and shocking religious rituals are some of the gruesome aspects of the totally gross history of Mesoamerica. Concise and entertaining, this text covers some of the more nauseating facts about pre-Columbian Mesoamerica (the region spanning Central America). The gruesome details about the Mesoamerican diet, religion, and medicine will shock readers. But beyond the ickiness, this fascinating title also introduces its audience to the significant contributions of this important culture, as well as the tools that historians and archaeologists use to study ancient life.
While the ancient Romans continue to be regarded as highly civilized, there are aspects of ancient Roman life, including the foods that they ate (dormice were a delicacy) and their leisure activities (such as the notorious gladiatorial fights to the death), that seem strange and repellent to us today. This high-interest history book makes use of kids’ fascination with the disgusting to appeal to young readers who might not be as interested in a more straightforward history title. In its own unorthodox manner, the volume covers Roman culture, food, hygiene, medicine, religion, and military might, offering readers a comprehensive—if sometimes stomach-turning—view of ancient Roman life.
This entertaining volume reveals some of the grossest practices in hygiene, dining, fashion, and medicine of Medieval Europe. Serfs often smelled bad, and they bathed and relieved themselves in streams filled with garbage. Wealthier individuals who had bathrooms produced waste that was sent down chutes into the castle moat. Peasants and nobles commonly consumed animal parts that today we would consider less appetizing, including paws, brains, stomachs, and lungs. Poor nutrition resulted in rotting teeth and scurvy. Doctors were woefully backward in treating patients, using odd remedies such as ground-up worms, bloodletting through leeches, and spreading animal dung on wounds.
Ahmose I, founder of the New Kingdom, came to a broken Egypt and expanded it to the largest size it would ever reach. Readers will learn about how the familial bonds of the women who eagerly and expertly guided the rulers of Thebes sustained him, as a lineage of war-making young men came of age on the throne. They will make connections between how modernizing and adjusting to a specific enemy enabled the Thebans to take on the previously dominant Hyksos, while thought-provoking sidebars describe topics like why naming is important, and what differentiates the factions that sought power.
Discover the stomach-churning truth about the animal poop, pee, vomit, and secretions that humans have eaten throughout history—and sometimes still do—in Christine Virnig's laugh-out-loud middle-grade nonfiction debut. Dung for Dinner is illustrated by Korwin Briggs. From Roman charioteers scarfing wild boar dung to astronauts guzzling their own pee to today's kids spreading insect vomit on their toast, this humorous compendium is chock-full of history, science, and fascinatingly gross facts. Bug secretions coating your candy corn? Rodent poop in your popcorn? Physicians tasting their patients' pee? It’s deliciously disgusting! *SCBWI Golden Kite Award Finalist for Older Nonfiction
Book advocate Colby Sharp presents more than forty beloved, award-winning, diverse and bestselling authors and illustrators in a creative challenge! Colby Sharp invited more than forty authors and illustrators to provide story starters for each other; photos, drawings, poems, prose, or anything they could dream up. When they received their prompts, they responded by transforming these seeds into any form of creative work they wanted to share. The result is a stunning collection of words, art, poetry, and stories by some of our most celebrated children book creators. A section of extra story starters by every contributor provides fresh inspiration for readers to create works of their own. Here is an innovative book that offers something for every kind of reader and creator!
Explore the world of Minecraft inside and out with this boxed set collecting three official novels: The Crash, The Lost Journals, and The End! Minecraft: The Crash When Bianca and her best friend Lonnie are in a terrible accident, she's hospitalized and faced with questions she's not equipped to answer. She chooses instead to try a new virtual reality version of Minecraft that gives her control over a world at the very moment she thought she'd lost it. As she plays, she realizes that Lonnie is somewhere in here too. She encounters Esme and Anton, two kids who are also playing on the hospital server, and teams up with them to play through to the End—and hopefully to find Lonnie and bring him back to reality. Minecraft: The Lost Journals Allison and Max must team up to find his missing uncle Nicholas. Using the journal his beloved uncle left behind as a guide, the duo hurtle headlong into a treacherous and unknown landscape called the Nether. There, they meet a strange girl named Freya and her woefully unheroic wolf, Bunny Biter, who agree to help them in their quest. The group must take on dangerous new foes and unravel the cryptic journal to find Nicholas and reunite this fractured family. Minecraft: The End For as long as they can remember, the twin endermen Fin and Mo have lived in the mysterious land of the End. They know everything there is to know about their world—or so they think until the strangers from another dimension arrive. The invaders are called humans, and they’ve come to steal artifacts and slay the ender dragon. Caught off guard, the twins are trapped in the middle of a war between the endermen and the humans, with the future of their home at stake.
