Kids books that crack me up

I worked in a children's section of a library from 15-20 and then again for a year in 2004. I loved it. It's still one of my most favorite jobs. 

So today while I was at Champaign Public Library perusing materials to take home to my bed ridden X-man, I came across a series of books in the "new book" section for children that made me chuckle.

With titles like: 

-- You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower: A Trip that Took Entirely Too Long

-- You Wouldn't Want to be an American Colonist: A Settlement You'd Rather Not Start (with a photo of John Smith shielding himself with the body of his Native American guide from arrows shot at him from other Native Americans)

You get the point. It made me laugh because in my lifetime there's been a switch in teaching history. When I was in fifth grade Columbus did no wrong. He was a great man who we owed for finding our country. The colonists brought all kinds of good things to the Native Americans -- and famine was taught just as something existed back then -- not as a slew of illnesses that white man brought with them. 

I like a balance approach to my history. A little -- "aren't we glad so and so did this -- but oh my goodness, was that an insane, unstable and bizarre way to do it."

MacTroll likes learning about the "oopses" in history, too. 

Anyway, this series is supposed to be for ages 9-12. But I liked the realism of the comic-esque illustrations, and the brutal honesty of the text.