Includes bibliographical references (pages 215-232).
Contents:
Before we begin -- When I die, will my cat eat my eyeballs? -- What would happen to an astronaut body in space? -- Can I keep my parents' skulls after they die? -- Will my body sit up or speak on its own after I die? -- We buried my dog in the backyard, what would happen if we dug him up now? -- Can I preserve my dead body in amber like a prehistoric insect? -- Why do we turn colors when we die? -- How does a whole adult fit in a tiny box after cremation? -- Will I poop when I die? -- Do conjoined twins always die at the same time? -- If I died making a stupid face, would it be stuck like that forever? -- Can we give Grandma a Viking funeral? -- Why don't animals dig up all the graves? -- What would happen if you swallowed a bag of popcorn before you died and were cremated? -- If someone is trying to sell a house, do they have to tell the buyer someone died there? -- What if they make a mistake and bury me when I'm just in a coma? -- What would happen if you died on a plane? -- Do bodies in the cemetery make the water we drink taste bad? -- I went to the show where dead bodies with no skin play soccer. Can we do that with my body? -- Can everybody fit in a casket? What if they're really tall? -- Can someone donate blood after they die? -- We eat dead chickens, why not dead people? -- What happens when a cemetery is full of bodies and you can't add any more? -- Is it true people see a white light as they're dying? -- Why don't bugs eat people's bones? -- What happens when you want to bury someone but the ground is too frozen? -- Can you describe the smell of a dead body? -- What happens to soldiers who die far away in battle, or whose bodies are never found? -- Can I be buried in the same grave as my hamster? -- Will my hair keep growing in my coffin after I'm buried? -- Can I use human bones from a cremation as jewelry? -- Did mummies stink when they were wrapped? -- At my grandma's wake, she was wrapped in plastic under her blouse. Why would they do that?
Summary:
Every day, funeral director Caitlin Doughty receives dozens of questions about death. What would happen to an astronaut's body if it were pushed out of a space shuttle? Do people poop when they die? Can Grandma have a Viking funeral? Doughty's book blends her scientific understanding of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five urgent questions posed by her youngest fans. Readers will learn what happens if you die on an airplane, the best soil for mummifying your dog, and whether or not you can preserve your friend's skull as a keepsake. Featuring illustrations from Dianne Ruz, this book will delight anyone interested in the fascinating truth about what will happen (to our bodies) after we die.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.