A Brief History of Underpants

Do you know what medieval knights wore under their armor? Or the importance of silk undergarments for the army of Genghis Khan? Well, you will after reading A Brief History of Underpants! This is a fun look at historical underpinnings around the world.

Little did I know the history of underpants would be so fascinating.
So many fun facts and even laundry techniques of the past ewww.
Did you know that Sumo wrestlers maawashis are as long as a school bus and as heavy as a large watermelon?

This is such a silly yet informative book. I would have loved to read this as a history lesson when I was a child. I can definitely see this being super popular with kids that love Captain Underpants!

Far too brief, pun intended, this picture book about the histroy of underwear covers all sorts of things that people have warn to cover their privates.

I knew about Bloomers, who they gave more freedom of movement to women, but I didn't know some of the other facts, such as the sumo wrestler never washes his fundoshi. Bonus, you get to learn how to put on an fundoshi, just in case you have a burning desire to dress up like a sumo wrestler, and have a bold of clothe just hanging around.

I like that this book is not only about Western European clothes, but also looks at Australia, and New Zealand, Japan, India and Mali.

So, if you want to learn how many pairs of schneti were buried with King Tut, or what the Mongols wore, this is the book for you.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Well.... that was some colourful underwear fun!

This is a children's book and don't go to "overprotective" mode when you consider such books. It's fun to read! Of course, you will get to see so many types of underwear and the stories behind them. In brief. And yes, even dinosaurs are a part of this.

The illustrations are fun! And the colourful pages are so worth it.

The book covers the entire globe. And the mention of Gandhi was, well, unexpected. You will know why when you read this.

Have fun.

And I had more fun with the extras at the end!


Thank you Authors and the Publisher for the advance reading copy.

As an elementary school librarian, I know there are some words guaranteed to get a laugh from even the grumpiest kid. One of them is underwear. I had to read this delightfully named book and was delighted to learn it contains both silly humor and facts about the wheres, hows, and whyfors about underpants. Sure to be a big hit, this is on my to be purchased list

Honest opinion in exchange for a free review from NetGalley. This book is a bit juvenile, but my daughter laughed. Since kids are the intended audience, I call that a win.

Review to come late april/early May to blog/goodreads/eamazon.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review!

I always love books about topics not usually getting a book. I mean, dinosaurs, bones, food, animals, those all get books and tons of them even, but how often do you see a book about underwear? Well? Indeed not often, so I had to click request.

And here we are, we learn all about underwear. From how people went from naked to wearing something (and I would indeed definitely not recommend cacti as underwear XD) to all the things people wore all over the world (I totally forgot that the Egyptian underwear was called Schenti, also NOPE on the red dye) to inventions, and more!

I had so much fun reading this book, the writing style really makes it fun to read and the puns and jokes also help! I learned a lot of new things about the various kinds of underwear and the words for them to inventions that helped with underwear. I even learned that apparently the US has a national Underpants Day! That made me laugh! I also loved seeing what famous underwear there was (eww to most though).

I loved the extra bit at the end, though I would also have liked some other special underwear to be featured (like how do those sumo wrestlers wrap themselves in their things?).

The art was terrific and fitted perfectly with the book/the silliness of it all.

So if you are curious about underwear, want something that will bring a laugh, be sure to check this book out!

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group – becker & mayer! for the opportunity to review this book.

We had a great time reading this one, it was filled with really interesting facts about underpants as well
as funny puns and brilliant illustrations.
I didn't know what to expect going into this one but I can say I am thrilled I did as it's a wonderful one, for kids and grownups alike.

My 9 year old daughter's review:
You should read this book because it will make you laugh and the illustrations are really funny and the facts are really interesting. 5 stars

This was a cute little book. I had hoped it would have more detail from a historical perspective, but it appears to be focused at a much younger age than I expected. Not academic, but still fun.

Underwear, no longer “unmentionables”, now a very funny subject. My five year old and I liked learning about underwear of the past. I enjoyed the pun-ny humor and my daughter thought the Dino in underwear was great. Four stars for me. I’d consider this a nice addition to a non-fiction library collection.
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to the author, Quarto Publishing Group and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, and so did my godchild, who I recruited as being more directly the target group. Funny, punny and great illustrations - a very enjoyable read filled with interesting and little-known facts about history and cultural differences in terms of undergarments. Highly recommend!

This funny children's nonfiction book about the history of underpants is sure to be a hit with young readers. Fans of "Weird But True" will flock to this book. It's the perfect quick introduction to the odd, and sometimes gross, history of underpants.

A Brief History of Underpants is an engaging and very entertaining look at underwear through the ages in many world cultures. Released 1st June 2021 from Quarto on their becker & mayer! imprint, it's 48 pages and available in paperback format.

This is such a fun and information rich look at unmentionables. The book has a simple and accessible layout with full page illustrations and inset text boxes throughout. The language is aimed at younger readers (roughly grades K-3) and will be fun for reading alone or for story-time with an adult. The illustrations are full of small details which will enrich reading time and provide lots of entertainment. Although it's humorous and tongue-in-cheek, it is factual and full of real history tidbits and actual historical people (Otzi the iceman and King Tut make brief appearances in (naturally) their underwear).

The author has included an abbreviated bibliography and links list for further reading as well as a cute short DIY tutorial to make readers' own samurai fundoshi.

This is the sort of fun and irreverent short book which will keep kids interested in reading and developing their skills and which make reading a fun activity. This would make an absolutely superlative choice for public or school library acquisition, gift giving, or the home library. Very very fun book.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This was a fun little history of underpants. Just right for those reading small chapters. It has fun illustrations and the information is broken up into understandable tidbits for those 1st grade and up.

I laughed through every page of this book. Kids (and adults) will learn lots of interesting facts and be entertained the entire time. I am excited to gift this to the elementary kids in my life.