Fooled You!: Fakes and Hoaxes Through the Years - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Elaine Pascoe has written many nonfiction books for young readers and has worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine writer, and editor. She lives in Connecticut.

Laurie Keller is the acclaimed author-illustrator of Do Unto Otters, Arnie, the Doughnut, The Scrambled States of America, and Open Wide: Tooth School Inside, among numerous other books for children. She earned a B.F.A. at Kendall College of Art and Design. She lives in Michigan, in a little cottage in the woods on the shore of Lake Michigan.

Rezensionen

Gr. 4-6. Pascoe describes 11 notable hoaxes, several of which involve some famous names. In the ninteenth century, P. T. Barnum, master of the bogus, made people believe in a mermaid. Edgar Allan Poe offered a false newspaper report describing a transatlantic balloon flight, and he promoted a machine that supposedly created energy by releasing "luminiferous ether." The twentieth century brought hoaxes such as the 1917 "fairies in the garden" photo that fooled Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Piltdown Man fossil fraud, film footage of Bigfoot, and crop circles in England. Cartoonlike drawings with blue shading give pages a jaunty air, though at times readers might have preferred photos of the phenomena discussed. Those motivated to search for photos, further facts, or other examples of fakes can start with the appended lists of recommended books and Internet sites. Clearly written, the text begins and ends with a discussion that warns about passing along false stories, pictures, and viruses via the Internet. Carolyn Phelan
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Grade 4-6–Pascoe employs a light tone to describe 11 pranks and frauds perpetrated in the 19th and 20th centuries. Most of the stories will be familiar to fans of historical oddities. The Fejee Mermaid, the Cardiff Giant, the Piltdown Man, fairy photographs, Bigfoot, and crop circles have been the subjects of similar works, such as Alex Boese's The Museum of Hoaxes (Penguin, 2003) and Judith Herbst's Hoaxes (Lerner, 2004). Like other volumes on this subject, this one includes a few lesser-known items including the New York Sun's report of the first East to West Atlantic balloon crossing in 1844, a report submitted by a struggling journalist named Edgar Allan Poe. What is not as common in other works on the topic are the clear explanations of who thought of the hoaxes and how and why they developed them. A list of six similar titles from the 1990s and another of nine Web sites that track current hoaxes or describe historical ones are appended. Keller's silly cartoon illustrations help maintain a light tone. Entertainment that encourages healthy skepticism makes this title a winner.–Ann G. Brouse, Steele Memorial Library, Elmira, NY
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