A Day in the Life of a Caveman, a Queen and Everything in Between: History as You've Never Seen It Before

by Mike Barfield (Author)

A Day in the Life of a Caveman, a Queen and Everything in Between: History as You've Never Seen It Before
Reading Level: 4th − 5th Grade

A colorful and comical tour through history from cartoonists Mike Barfield and Jess Bradley.

The hilarious minds behind A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu and You have teamed up once again - this time to give a taste of the daily lives of the people, animals and objects who made history.

Featuring a day in the life of early humans as they paint mammoths on the walls of a cave, a fierce gladiator battling in the Colosseum and the first woman in space. And not forgetting the animals of history - from an Egyptian cat (worshipped as a god, of course) to an albatross flying over Rapa Nui and a dog in the trenches of the First World War.

Readers can also discover the stories behind famous constructions, including the Great Wall of China and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and delve into the secret diaries of a Viking, Isaac Newton's cat and the wooden panel that became the Mona Lisa. With over 90 entries told in the friendly, informative style of Mike Barfield and brought to life by Jess Bradley's brilliantly funny illustrations, this book will have children learning and laughing as they go.

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Paperback
$16.99

Kirkus

Starred Review
A delightful volume that deftly and wittily balances learning with humor and approachable perspective. 

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4--In their follow-up to A Day in the Life of a Poo, a Gnu, and You, cartoonists Barfield and Bradley turn from depicting human biology to covering human history with the same freewheeling spirit--meaning, for example, numerous figures, from Homo erectus to a modern smartphone, personally introducing themselves, and a Bactrian camel offering a tour of the Silk Road. A personified cacao bean provides glimpses of the Maya, and a severed head introduces the French Revolution: "Hello! Welcome to Paris in France in the year 1793." Presented in simply drawn panels and galleries, the hundred or so chronologically ordered entries highlight a broad range of world civilizations and events, as well as monuments, inventions, and art, from cave paintings to Michelangelo's (discreetly shielded) David. Historical figures include Adolf Hitler (who "wanted to make defeated Germany great again"), the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, and the courageous Harriet Tubman. The broad scope of the contents is not reflected in their shoehorned arrangement into Eurocentric "Ancient, Middle Ages, and Modern" categories, but the ravages of colonialism and the rise and decline of the slave trade receive somber notice, and a lump of coke and a carbon atom address modern climate issues, too. VERDICT This highlight reel survey may not break any new ground, but it does offer readers in lower elementary grades a broad general picture of our story, from more than a few unusual points of view.--John Edward Peters

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

 
Mike Barfield
Mike Barfield is a writer, cartoonist, poet, and performer, who lives in a small village in North Yorkshire, England. A typical day in his life consists of sitting at a desk in a very untidy room surrounded by hundreds of books, while he writes and draws things he hopes will make people laugh.

Jess Bradley is an illustrator and comic artist from Torquay, England. As well as writing and drawing for The Phoenix, she also writes for The Beano and illustrates a variety of children's books. During her day, she enjoys painting in her sketchbooks, watching scary films, and letting her son beat her at Mario Kart.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781780557137
Lexile Measure
740
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Michael O'Mara Books
Publication date
August 01, 2022
Series
-
BISAC categories
JNF016000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Curiosities & Wonders
JNF025000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | General
JNF062020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | History
Library of Congress categories
History
Juvenile works
Manners and customs
Civilization
World history
Histoire
History, Ancient
Trivia and miscellanea
Humor

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