You Wouldn't Want to Be Ill in Tudor Times: Diseases You'd Rather Not Catch

You Wouldn't Want to Be ...

by Kathryn Senior, David Antram (Illustrator)

As an apprentice barber surgeon of the 1500s you are embarking on a career in which you will have to treat the gruesome diseases of people who are ill. From plague victims to wounded soldiers, you treat them all, with the help of leeches for blood-letting and false noses and ears. You even attend King Henry VIII in his final days, and then his daughter, Elizabeth I. You'll soon learn that you really wouldn't want to be ill in Tudor times!

Think again! This delightful series brings something unusual to the study of history: humor. You Wouldn't Want to... revels in the darker side of life in ancient times. The reader is on center stage as he or she gets a tour through life as a slave, warrior, explorer -- even a mummy! Hilarious illustrations, captions, and sidebars leave no doubt that you simply wouldn't want to be there.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Juvenile, Picture Books, Science, Education

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 17, 2002

About the author

Kathryn Senior is a former biomedical research scientist who studied at Cambridge University for a degree in pathology and a doctorare in microbiology. After four years in research she become an editor of children's science books. She now lives in the United States.

Reviews

[Dolly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an entertaining story about medicine during Tudor times in the You Wouldn't Want To... series. I like that they tackle serious historical events and show the not-so-nice side of human behavior, but in a somewhat humorous and tongue-in-cheek way. The book puts you as the reader into the center of the story, so you can imagine what life in those times was like.

Life for a barber surgeon in the 1500s certainly wasn't easy. Medical practices were much less sanitary than today and many people died from infections from the treatments themselves. Their medical practices seem quite barbaric today, but I find it interesting that even now doctors will treat patients with leeches and maggots.

There are a lot of facts, but the text is arranged so that there are plenty of pictures to look at and it's not overwhelming. We really enjoyed reading this book together and will look for more of the books in this series at our local library.

[Jesse Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

From my blog at www.secretpeace.com:

I heard about a series of kids' books recently called "You Wouldn't Want to Be ..." and thought I'd get one to see if they were as aligned with my book, The Secret Peace, as they sounded. They are.

I tried "You Wouldn't Want to Be Sick in the 16th Century!", and it did a great job of emphasizing a Secret Peace idea you may have heard me dwell on before: how terrible the past was. Other books in the series include "You Wouldn't Want to Be a Civil War Soldier!" and "You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pyramid Builder!", and each one teaches kids about a particular time period by emphasizing how horrible it was.

This is an ingenious teaching technique. Instead of reciting dry statistics or focusing on king after king, the book puts you in the shoes of an ordinary person of that time period and their (awful) day-to-day life. This makes it very easy to compare to the reader's own life, and see the differences. Plus, kids are often compelled by weird, disgusting facts.

The only problem I had with the book is that those differences weren't made explicit enough. The book only talks about the past, not how the present compares, leading that implication up to the reader. When talking about the absurd quack medical treatments of medieval times in "You Wouldn't Want to Be Sick in the 16th Century!", it puts the reader in that time period's shoes so completely that some kids might not notice how wrongheaded the ideas are. They're patently obvious to adults, but 8-10-year-olds (my guess at the target age) might not know enough about modern medicine to spot some of the obvious contrasts. Not sure if the other books shared this problem or not.

But overall, it's essential to convey some key concepts from history to kids any way we can, and these books are doing that in a clever, compelling way. Without learning the true state of history, it's too easy to assume the past was an idyllic time. These books will help dispel that nonsense.

[Yijoo Choi · Rating 5 out of 5]

From this book, I learned lots of informations about 16th century. Also I learned lots of treatments and disease during the 16th century.

This book has lots of pictures, so I could understand easily, and it was funnier than just informational. Also it has lots of hard words, so first I couldn't understand, but after the book club conversation, I couldn't understand it.
From this book, I learn lots of word, such as urine,and other words.

Also this book helped me to write my pandemic essay. I want to read this whole series. This book is one kind of the whole series. Because this book gave me lots of informations, and I want to learn more about other things XD

[Carol Evans]

This is the first of the You Wouldn’t Want to… series that I’ve read, but I was definitely impressed. Fun and factual history go hand in had in this short book, and parts are just downright gross, which is always attractive to kids.

To be honest, I learned a lot about medicine in the 16th century, most of which I didn’t want to know. But it was presented in such an enjoyable, light-hearted way, both the writing and the illustrations, that kids will just love it. I need to pick up some more in the series and see what else Amber (9) and I wouldn’t want to do.

[Carole P. Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series. This is the second book I have read in the series and is a great catalyst that can lead to many discussions for them to learn the how's and why's that shaped our present world. Kids love guts and gore, and with this book, the whole 16th century becomes way more interesting. The illustrations are humorous and the book covers a lot of ground. It also serves to remind students how lucky we are to be in this age and not one of the more barbaric ones. Great teaching tool!

[Kelly Moon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book a lot. Expeically the pictures, it was horrible. But still I learned very much from this book. Before reading this book I thought there will not going to be that much information in this book. Some of them was kind of wierd. To know what kind of disease or something, they had a test the urine. Also in 16th century they had a special tool to cut of the part of body. It informed me a lot but I kind of didn't liked it.

[Andy Ng · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learn from this book that people got no hope when live in the 16 century, every where is dangerous like the doctor don't know nothing about medical and just do anything what they think is right but what they do make millions of people died because of that, your house is dangerous because there are no rules when the disease come and

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doing very serious research at my job with this one
The part where they said midwives "aren't trained, but they learn from other midwives" nearly made me riot like what is that but training, riddle me this

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan summer reading 2018, children's book, nonfiction, science, history, medicine

[Tam Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found a set of these for a great price so thought I’d try them for students. From blood letting to tasting urine, this one was horrifically gross, but super cool.

[Nichole Ostrander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book but it was really disgusting.mine I think that you will like it but it’s really disgusting

[Rania]

Another one of the random books from my childhood that I must add to my goodreads for nostalgia’s sake.

[Zachary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine that you are in the sixteenth century, and you need a job. You think and think about what you job you possibly could want in the class that you are in. You finally decide that you want to be either a jailer or a barber surgeon. You decide that you would rather be a barber surgeon. This book has everything that need to know, or at least some of the basics. It even puts in a perspective as if you actually lived in the sixteenth century and somebody who seems like they were a barber surgeon as well is giving you advice on what to do. What makes this book so great is because of the way it is written instead of just giving you a history report, they make it fun by giving you pictures of what it might have looked like and information in little blurbs instead of huge paragraphs. You can pick up a copy of this amazing book in Mrs. Adair’s classroom. See you in my next review.

[Stephanie Fatemi · Rating 3 out of 5]

You Wouldn't Want to be Sick in the 16th Century by Kathryn Senior is a nonfiction kid’s book that describes medicines, diseases and doctors of the 16th Century. It is a relatively short book with lots of cartoon-like illustrations that would appeal to kids. Some of the topics presented include: leeches, the plague, false noses, quack doctors and more. On the back cover, this short description is provided: “Get ready…as a barber surgeon, you are about to embark on a career in which you will have to treat gruesome diseases. It’s Revolting!” I can see elementary boys being lured in with this description and being entertained by the text and pictures in the book.

[Duane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for anyone interested in early medicine and the crazy ideas they had back then. Filled with great illustrations and easy to understand text, this book is entertaining to read and you actually learn something along the way. It does show some rather gross stuff, but it's only the truth so it helps the theme of the entire book. Geared for pre-teen readers, this is a great addition to any library's collection.

[Am Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but there was too little content and the layout was extremely messy, difficult to read, and poorly designed. The colourful illustrations should have been accompanied by a more suitable type; not Times New Roman for god's sake. But I liked how the author wrote as if you were a barber surgeon from that era - refreshing and fun presentation. Now someone just needs to change the font.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous and sometimes really disgusting view of diseases and treatments in the Middle Ages that will surely delight boys ages 8-12. Yes, some of the treatments were truly awful, but the hilarious illustrations temper the grossest parts with humor.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what I had expected based on the title. This book was more about the treatment of disease including things like leeching etc rather than actual diseases that were prominent in the time period.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed book with lots of information. Contains glossary and index to aid students in finding information/understanding the text. Photos are cartoonish but will keep students engaged and reading more. 5.7 AR level.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this book was just FUN! I absolutely loved it! The illustrations were cute and funny. The text delivered important historical information in a humorous format. I will def. read all in this series as I absolutely love this type of stuff.

[Bambi Pea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a very interesting retelling of what it was like to be sick during the Tutor times. The various types of medical procedures are vaguely described just enough to help you know it is something you do not want to experience.

[Kelly Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is interesting to reflect on what we have learned about illness and the human body since the 16th century. Will people look back at the 20th and 21st century and be disgusted or amused by our medical practices and beliefs? How much are we still getting wrong?

[Tommy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this book it's a good book to research. Because it's talk about the fact during 16th century. In the book their have lots of hard word. In this book we can learn new words and fact in 16th century. Like they don't called doctors doctors. They called it barber surgery.

[1+1=42 (Math) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ewwww!

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's pretty good..... I really just looked at the pictures after I read it once....

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the humor in history it gives

[Audrianna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was funny, gross, and cool!

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of gross and disgusting tidbits about medical practices in the 16th century. No real in depth info with this book though, just an overview of different practices and illnesses of the times.

[Dimma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it's a funny book :)

[Tamara]

Fun and educational series. Great boy reads.