Oh Yikes!

If kids think pus and gas are fun, wait until they hear the lowdown on the real Dracula, samurai, gladiators, guillotines and vomitoriums, pirates, vikings, witch trials, and the world's poxiest plagues. This work is impeccably researched, deliciously wry, and subversively educational. "Oh Yikes!" covers people, events institutions, and really bad ideas, alphabetically from April Fools Day to zany Zoos. Here are the Aztecs, sacrificing 250,000 people a year for the gods, and for food. Organized from A to Z, complete with wacky photos and illustrations, Joy Masoff explains the hows and whys of the unbelievable, yet true. Did you know that the Hun warriors used raw meat for saddles? Riding around on it all day tenderized it so there was no need for cooking. How about the fact that in the 11th century a dog sat on the throne of Norway for three years? The human king, angry at his subjects, crowned his pooch, Saur, and demanded that he be treated regally. This is the stuff that makes eight- to twelve-year-old kids' (especially boys') hearts go pitter pat. Topped off with hundreds of illustrations and photographs along with hands on activities that bring the past to life, "Oh Yikes!" puts the juice in history in a way that makes it irresistible.