A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
Packed with information, hilariously but accurately (well...except for the chickens) illustrated, Hannah Holt and Korwin Briggs' A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken is sure to wedge its way into the annals of history-based picture books.
From Paleolithic loincloths to Henry VIII's wives wearing underwear on their heads to Mary Walker, a civil war surgeon who was arrested for wearing men's underwear and clothing to better work on patients, this book surveys the vast and fascinating history of our most private clothing.
Modeled by chickens, we trace the history of underwear from the very first discovery- a paleolithic nomad whose body was found completely preserved in ice. From there, we look across time and culture in this completely accessible, new take on boring old nonfiction picture books.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A fowl marches across time and space shedding new light on the history of people's intimate relationship with intimate apparel. As Biggs's crisp cartoons portray poultry-dominated peoples, Professor Chicken (who sports a bow tie, but not underpants) touches on subjects including why underwear is still referred to as a "pair," as well as the evolution of innovation and taste that led from the loincloth to the codpiece ("fancy underwear on the outside") and, eventually, the thong. Though the text fails to initially define specific terms (farthingale, panniers, stays), and an ending timeline is frustratingly out of order, Holt writes with a relish for juicy facts and irreverent wordplay (about the loincloths buried with King Tut: "That's a lot of Fruit of the Tomb"). But she also makes a compelling case for the historicity of material culture: how even mundane items can speak volumes about a society's technologies, class structure, and commitment to sustainability. Ages 3–9.
