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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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Date: 2 Apr 2011 06:00 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2 Apr 2011 19:29 (UTC)Issues. I'll mention all three, and probably update the post as well. Two weren't an issue for me, but the third one was. Of course there is the meta issue of the whole concept of being so clear about poison etc but that didn't bug me, I don't expect the kids to put rat poison in my soup. Or thallium. Which is odorless, tasteless, easily dissolved, and lethal. But hard to obtain in the US. Phew! :-)
1- The executions. There were two instances in which she talked about execution via electric chair. The first one especially was a wee bit on the graphic side. Not horrible, but upsetting. I'd warned the kids. The author does not appear to like the death penalty, so there was no glorification of taking a life to protect society type thing at least. They did detail how the inmates were strapped down etc. I found it creepy, myself.
2- Abortion. One woman died after a botched abortion, and what the Medical Examiner's Office ended up doing to get the doctor (who'd botched more than one) out of the business. There was no condemnation of the woman, and no anti choice vibe. Again, the position taken was not upsetting to me, the kids got it, but since I know not everyone is comfortable with that topic around kids, I warn.
3- This is the one I skipped over. Two families sharing a house. A woman accepts and promotes her 15 year old daughter sleeping with the man of the other couple, apparently in the married man's bed -his wife present- and the man and the woman end up murdering the wife, because the woman hopes that her daughter can then "get" the man. The man talks about how he'd like to live with the daughter, and he'd get her to a doctor if she "got in trouble". I found this whole part very upsetting. If it were just the pedophilia angle, I'd have let them listen, but I did not want them hearing about the mother -essentially- pimping out her daughter. I dunno. At some level, that sordid bit just went one step too far for me.
That's about it. Not a lot, imo, considering it was a non-fiction booked aimed toward adults not the pre-teen set. The writing is good, the reading a bit less so.
Holler if there is anything else you want to know.
Next we're listening to Howl's Moving Castle in tribute to Diana Wynne Jones. I love that book, and I hope the kids will too... Well, AC read it, the other two have only seen the movei. I'll be listening with Linnea and AC while Perry is in France, and again with Linnea and Perry while AC is in Costa Rica. Linnea can take the repeat and I can too.