Ickstory: The Icky, Sticky History of the World

This past week, I bought two Ickstory books:  Unraveling the History of Mummies Around the World and The History of Vampires and Other Real Blood Drinkers (both by Sylvia Branzei and illustrated by Jack Keely).

 

I thought, with it being so close to Halloween, my students would really like both of these (I'm thinking these will be popular year round).

Here is the summary from Goodreads for Mummies:
The creators of Grossology continue the icky, sticky history lesson!

The second title in our new sub-series of All Aboard Reading is about mummies from around the world. With hilarious illustrations and disgusting facts about mummies from King Tut to the Bog Man, this easy-to-read book will keep readers wrapped up for hours!

And Vampires:
Our new series opens with a book about vampires and blood drinkers throughout history. Separating fact from fiction, from Bram Stoker's Dracula to real cultures all over the world, this easy-to-read book will horrify and delight readers for hours!

I really like that these books are so fact filled, yet not only easy to read, but are funny and really interesting.  I was telling my husband facts from each book all night (he was slightly less amused than I was).

They also aren't scary!  They take something that could be really scary to a child (especially this time of year) and lay it out in a factual manner, dispelling all myths and rumors, and really making it so it isn't scary.  

I also enjoyed Jack Keely's illustrations.  They were cartoony and funny, without making me feel like I was reading a kids book, which to me, was another way of taking away the scary factor.

I'm putting both of these on my "New Books" shelf Tuesday.  I figure by Wednesday, they'll have been fought over numerous times and already be checked out (shoot, just to be mean, I might hold them for the buddy read station for a week just so everyone gets a chance to look at them before I let kiddos borrow them).