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nwhikerThe kids and I just finished listening to The Poisoner's Handbook.
I got it on CD to listen to with the kids, and it was a serious success... with the two older kids. This is the one Linnea said was "appropriate" (*) for her... and also the book that prompted this exchange. (*) See this post
Anyhow, Perry and Anne-Chloe both loved it. There were bits that were beyond Perry, but we'd stop and pause and explain. I don't think he could have read it, but it was fine for listening.
The book, about the birth of forensic science, was a fun introduction to chemistry.
There was some gross stuff. My kids don't mind hearing about brains being mooshed up, boiled with nitric acid, and distilled, minced livers, and the like. YKidMV.
They were especially fascinated by how easy it was to lay your hands on poison back in the 1920s.
The book led to make discussions about science in general and chemistry in particular. Also discussions about poison -no duh-, abortion, the 18th Amendment, and a few other odd bits. Also lots of tie-ins to what is going on today, ie radioactivity, and unions. What was odd? They listened to the part of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory the day before the centennial of that gruesome event.
The reader wasn't awesome. John Hopkins? Really? Some less than smooth bits, for some reason she insisted on trying to "do" men's voices, and didn't really sound good. Plus aping German and French accents? Sounded silly. But even that wasn't enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.
There were some iffy bits, about execution via electrocution, but we talked about it before, gave Linnea songs on the headphones, and the other two were ok to listen. I told them they could, of course, "call" the book off at any time. I did skip one part (I can detail later if anyone is interested See comments for details), because I didn't feel they needed that level of detail -the younger one, really-, but aside from that it was ok. Again, more easily grossed out kids may had more issues.
AC said it was the best non-fiction book she'd read. Of course the poor kid is currently reading Half the Sky so murder via arsenic, thallium, or CO doesn't sound as bad as they otherwise might.
And now my children know half a zillion ways to poison people. Yay?
I got it on CD to listen to with the kids, and it was a serious success... with the two older kids. This is the one Linnea said was "appropriate" (*) for her... and also the book that prompted this exchange. (*) See this post
Anyhow, Perry and Anne-Chloe both loved it. There were bits that were beyond Perry, but we'd stop and pause and explain. I don't think he could have read it, but it was fine for listening.
The book, about the birth of forensic science, was a fun introduction to chemistry.
There was some gross stuff. My kids don't mind hearing about brains being mooshed up, boiled with nitric acid, and distilled, minced livers, and the like. YKidMV.
They were especially fascinated by how easy it was to lay your hands on poison back in the 1920s.
The book led to make discussions about science in general and chemistry in particular. Also discussions about poison -no duh-, abortion, the 18th Amendment, and a few other odd bits. Also lots of tie-ins to what is going on today, ie radioactivity, and unions. What was odd? They listened to the part of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory the day before the centennial of that gruesome event.
The reader wasn't awesome. John Hopkins? Really? Some less than smooth bits, for some reason she insisted on trying to "do" men's voices, and didn't really sound good. Plus aping German and French accents? Sounded silly. But even that wasn't enough to dampen anyone's enthusiasm.
There were some iffy bits, about execution via electrocution, but we talked about it before, gave Linnea songs on the headphones, and the other two were ok to listen. I told them they could, of course, "call" the book off at any time. I did skip one part (I can detail later if anyone is interested See comments for details), because I didn't feel they needed that level of detail -the younger one, really-, but aside from that it was ok. Again, more easily grossed out kids may had more issues.
AC said it was the best non-fiction book she'd read. Of course the poor kid is currently reading Half the Sky so murder via arsenic, thallium, or CO doesn't sound as bad as they otherwise might.
And now my children know half a zillion ways to poison people. Yay?
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