Head lice, mouse eyebrows, and pooing to death! (Horrible Histories: The Gorgeous Georgians - Terry Deary)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Horrible Histories: The Gorgeous Georgians - Terry Deary
Date:	10/07/09 (57 review reads)
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Horrible Histories is a collection of books written by the wonderful author known as Terry Deary, with illustrations provided by Martin Brown . There are loads of books in this series, which aims to teach history in a way more fun and exciting for younger people - by including some of the more unbelievable facts about the era. This particular book focuses on the Georgian Era, 1714 to 1837 , and covers all sorts of area - Kings and Queens, Fashions of the period, and common health problems of the day .

The cover is an attractive bright red colour, featuring a picture of a bewigged couple and a mounted highwayman. Along the top is the Horrible Histories logo, with the title in big scripted writing enclosed in a cream box .

Opening the book, the text is a nice size for young readers (my daughter is six, and can read this with a little assistance from me) although some passages are written in Italics, which she finds a little harder to read . There are illustrations on every page, making it far more lively as a book, and also enabling my daughter to interpret new words a little easier . The wording in the book is simple, but not patronising, and although there are a few words that might be trickier for her age, they are often explained and broken down to make them easier to understand .

Without blowing my own trumpet, I'm very interested in History, and read a lot of historical non-fiction, (and the occasional fiction too). I consider myself to have a relatively good knowledge base with history, but there were things I learnt from this book that I'd never known - for example that women made false eyebrows out of mouse-fur , or that coat was often referred to as a cover-me-queerly .

Chapters are presented in small sections, so a child won't be overwhelmed with two much information at once . I love the mentions of some of the yukkier aspects, and so did my daughter, who finds it hilarious that George the First died of the squits after eating too much fruit, and that the Georgians got nits too! And the facts seem to be sticking in her head, as well as encouraging her interest in history . In fact, she's developed a particular interest in George the Fourth, particularly in him being so fat and the pavilion he built , which she now hopes to visit in the summer holidays .

My daughter and I have both enjoyed reading this book together - for her, it was funny and amusing, and for me it was both of these too . It's taught us both things we didn't know, and I'm also very glad that my daughter now has an interest to match my own in history . I'll certainly be buying more books from this series in future - in fact, I've just redeemed some dooyoo miles and plan to buy several when the voucher comes through .

This book costs 3.99 from Amazon.co.uk , and I definitely think its suitable to be read together by children as young as five, or to be read alone from about 8 years old . Highly recommended .

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