Most of what we have learned throughout history regarding this Egyptian princess has been flawed and skewed at best. For exampled, she was not even Egyptian, she was Greek! But Cleopatra was the original Queen Bee, and this book helps dispel some of the erroneous information, support some of the correct information, and allow us to see Cleo in a whole new light.If more people wrote historical books for kids this well, more kids might be interested in history. Written in biographical style for middle grade and young adult readers, this book does an excellent job of reaching its intended audience. There is just the right amount of historical information mixed in with the perfect amount of "teen speak" to connect home with kids. I found it to be incredibly informative, and I actually learned a ton from this book!
I loved the format of the book, in that it was broken down into traditional, chronological chapters following Cleo's life; however, within each chapter, there were little "break out" sections with additional tid bits of information in them, much like the structure of textbooks. It helps break up the text on the page, which is important for young readers and highly visual learners. The accompanying photographs were high quality, and gorgeous. The book is complete with a glossary and index.
All in all, I found this book not only highly informative, but entertaining as well. I think this is a great book for educators and parents to share with their children, and I for one would love to see more young adult biographies written in this style!
A review copy of this book was provided courtesy of the author.
Lovely review Tiffany! I think Vicky has been tremendously brave writing her book in a style that will make it accessible to younger readers. I hope it sets a trend as well as encourage other Classicists to consider younger audiences in their future projects.
ReplyDeleteGreat consideration was made of the visual presentation of this book, another vital factor to engaging younger readers, as well as those of us who think in visual terms!
Bravo Vicky!
H Niyazi
threepipeproblem.blogspot.com
Sounds interesting! I totally agree, that if more people wrote good historical fiction, more kids would love history. And we have to know history if we're going to know what works and what doesn't regarding economics, society, etc. I think it's foolish to assume it's progress to eschew the things of the past (that often worked so well and made us a great nation)and move into uncharted waters, declaring it to be right (with no knowledge to back it up.)
ReplyDeletewow. How did I get from your nice book review to my soapbox? :-)
Sounds like a great book, but is it a novel or a non-fiction reference-type book? Sounds like NF, but just wanted to make sure I knew where to look. (If so, then I really want to find a copy since next year my kids will be studying Cleopatra again.)
ReplyDeleteA great review on a book I had not heard of before this. I love books on historical figures and I have enjoyed reading about Cleopatra before. This sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteBridgette this is a non fiction biographical book, well suited for reference! Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteA spot-on review, Tiffany---I'd like to add that besides being zippy, quip-filled fun to read, the book has a truly awesome array of back matter that teachers, librarians, and kids will find super-useful. As an author myself, I really treasure the fact that Vicky supplied 8 pp of chapter endnotes, great glossary, biblio, AND detailed list of picture sources. (index, of course, and a timeline) And I deeply envy having a publisher who'd agree to devote 24 pages to them!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tiffany! I saw the book's non-fiction tag AFTER I posted. :) It is on my list. . .
ReplyDelete"If more people wrote historical books for kids this well, more kids might be interested in history."
ReplyDeleteWell said!! And I think this is soooo true!!! It's fun to learn about these exciting historical figures when it's presented this way. Truth is stranger than fiction :)