History's Strangest Cures
(Houghton Mifflin 2010)
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You're feeling sick. If it were a long time ago, you might...
A. Drink a glass full of millipedes.
B. Rub some moldy bread on your leg.
C. Tie earthworms around your neck.
D. Put a frog down your throat.
It wasn't too long ago that people tried all sorts of things to help sick people feel better. They tried wild things like drinking a glass full of millipedes or putting a frog down their throat. Some of the cures worked, and some of them…well, let's just say that millipedes, living or dead, are not meant to be ingested. Carlyn Beccia takes readers on a colorful and funny medical mystery tour to discover that while times may have changed, many of today's most reliable cure-alls have their roots in some very peculiar practices, and so relevant connections can be drawn from what they did then to what we do now.
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The Raucous Royals: Test your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries, and Deduce Which Royal Rumors are True
Houghton Mifflin 2008
Psssst....Have you heard the one about Anne Boleyn and her six fingers? Did King George III really talk to trees?Did Napoleon Bonaparte have reason to have a short complex? Do you believe any of these rumors?
The Raucous Royals invites readers to become a history detective and come to their own conclusions about 13 pretty raucous royals. Each of these rulers is remembered for rumors and gossip that have survived thousands of year. Some of these rumors are true and some of them are false. And with some of them we will never know. But all of them are told to you in secret.
Please don't repeat them!
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Who Put the B in the Ballyhoo?
Houghton Mifflin, 2007
A is for Awesome,
A show for all ages,
Death-defying acts,
And strange beast in cages
In the early 1900s, in a time before big budget movies and video games, circus day was the most anticipated event in towns across America. Even during the depression, crowds lined up to see snake charmers, strongmen and acrobats. And no other form of advertisement was as effective as the circus poster in promoting this event. Who put the B in the Ballyhoo? illustrates the alphabet through colorful posters and the stars that brought the circus to life. See the grace of the bareback rider, the daring of the acrobat, the strangeness of the snake charmer, and the delight of the dancing pigs. What was it like when the circus came to town? This book gives you a ringside seat.
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