Queen The Books

I really enjoyed this book. I am always looking for short stories when traveling or hanging at the beach. That way I can finish a story and not be aching until I get a chance to pick it up again...kids, they really get in the way! Three great stories! I found in all three there was a tenderness to the story with great steam and HEAT! Highly recommend this book. Hope this helps!

Of all Theo Aronsen's books, this is my favourite. Far from a stale history of the events leading up to and during the First World War, this book provides an insight into the characters and personalities of those who populated the Courts of early 20th century Europe. The wonderful descriptions of Marie of Roumania, and Kaiser Wilhelm are so vivid and wonderful. The whole tragedy of an extended family, and the 'crowns rolling round the floor' is captured in this wonderful book.

Most Beautiful Princess

The Greenbriar books are very complex and interesting. I read them over and over. The Queen and her son and the friends that gather around them are fascinating. Anyone looking for a new fantasy world to curl up in should give these books a try. They are simply wonderful

Jensen, Chris period.3 teacher Ms.de Julien
10/27/05

I'm writing a book review the title is the curse of king tut by Patricia D.netzley.
This book is sort of a biography yet it tells you about the Egyptian culture and how he
Lived his 19 years of his life. The book is interesting it tells you how they think he died and why.
They also tell you why he was buried in a normal tomb instead of a royal tomb.

I had this book as a small child. The illustrations are totally beautiful, and the story is lovely too....though, at the end, is somewhat confusing.

It begins where Queen Ermalinda -- a totally beautiful blonde lady, is in the midst of preparing for the annual dance festival for her kingdom, (or is that queendom?) "...All the deserving children" in the land were given dancing lessons....and there is a lovely black and white illustration (amidst all the other, colour illustrations), wherein 8 or 9, (or maybe 10), little girl dancers are all shown in a row, in sillouette, but their tutu skirts are drawn without sillouette).
"Fat Martha" is at the piano, as they practice. (The appelation of the name "Martha" with the word "fat" stayed with me for a long time....and, years later, it took a while for me to accustom myself, years later, to a svelte, thin Martha Stewart!)

Then the Queen gets an inspiration. She wants OTHER kinds of dancing for her festival/recital. So she sets off for various countries, to gather different sorts of dancers.

She goes to China, where she convinces the sisters, "Sing Hi" and "Sing Lo", (about 9 years old), to join her. She goes to Mexico, (or another Latin American country not specified), and convinces brother and sister, "Delores" and "Emmanuelo", (about 14 and 15 years old), to go with her. Then she goes to the Deep South, where she meets "Sambo" and "Ivory", two little black boys,(who seem about 8 years old, and appear to be twins), who wish, "they never again had to pick cotton" to join her. (It is true that all of these children may be stereotypes of their countries and dancing...but they are all presented in a sympathetic manner, and, to me at least, seemed real people, with real problems.) All of these children appear to be orphans. as no parents, (or guardians either), are ever mentioned.


At the end, Queen Ermalinda takes these new dance acts back with her. They are a great success at the royal dance recital....but they then remain with her, in "her kingdom in the sky". S_P_O_I_L_E_R____A_L_E_R_T_____This is where the confusion started, (and continues to this day), in my mind. Up until the very last page, it seems that Queen Ermalinda ruled over a fictitious kingdom -- never named -- but quite certainly suposed to be a very real area, and on Earth. Then, on the last page, (in fact, in the last sentence), these new dancers, (and all others), are taken up by
Queen Ermalinda into her "kingdom in the sky". Is this a reference to the Christian concept of the "Second Coming"? I don't think so....because they all went to a "kingdom in the sky", not returning to Earth. Is Queen Ermalinda, then, a benevolent angel of death? It sure didn't seem so, until that last page and last sentence. I am sure that the authoress, Ruby Finst, knew why she ended the book this way....but for me, (and I believe many, many of her other child -- and adult -- readers), it's a real surprise ending...with no explainations for it at all.

The beautiful colour drawings in this book are all lithographs. The book is oddly-shaped, much wider than it is
tall. It is a true treasure, and I only wish I had not thrown out my own copy years ago, in a vain attempt to clean my room. (As a brunette, I also had colored over the Queen's beautiful blonde hair, and made it black). The book remains as a true work of art, both in words and pictures, and if you can buy a copy, (I've seen them from $69 on Amazon, to over $200 in other places), I'd avise you to do so, and add this undoubtedly beautiuful classic to your personal library. But the story -- at least the last page of it -- remains, to me at least, "a puzzlement".

Most books on Elizabeth spend little time putting her reign into historical context, which is why Alison Plowden's books on that time period are a must-read for those interested in Elizabeth. In Danger to Elizabeth, Plowden describes the plans and plots of the Catholics who were determined to overthrow Elizabeth and rescue England from heresy. Plowden's research is thorough and her writing style is interesting and engaging.

The history of the British Royal Family extends well past 1000 years ago, but for a long time, the date of 1066 has had pride-of-place as the demarcation of the 'proper' lineage, and Brenda Ralph Lewis' book on the kings and queens of England follows suit. Lewis does not pretend to give an extensive or in-depth history here - this being a book with the Reader's Digest imprimatur, it is as one might expect, a summary and overview of the highlights of the reigns. This is not to say that Lewis gives short shrift or lack of attention to her subjects - far from it! But she does concentrate on the highlights (and lowlights) of each subject, focusing a bit more on the more headline-worthy aspects of each reign, as one might expect from the subtitle of the book, 'Murder, Mayhem, and Scandal: 1066 to the Present Day'.

Scandal and attention-getting intrigue is hardly the province of the current generations of the British Royal Family. Indeed, compared to some of their predecessors, the current crop of royals can be considered rather mild in many respects. Lewis details the intrigues around many dynastic shifts - the Wars of the Roses, the race for an heir to George IV, etc. - as well as some of the personal battles - the aforementioned George's ongoing battle with his wife, Caroline, the 'Injured Queen of England', the current Queen's 'annus horibilis', and finally the Charles and Diana split, ending with Diana's death, the point at which Lewis' book on murder, mayhem and scandal concludes.

One gets a bit of a distorted view of the royals from this text, in that one wonders if there is any merit at all in any of the lot for the past 1000 years. In fact, Lewis holds up various figures for their virtues, sometimes against type-casting: Queen Mary Tudor, the first queen to reign in her own right, is nicknamed by history as 'Bloody Mary', but Lewis points out that, in her own time, she was known as a kind-hearted and long-suffering woman. However, there is more than enough juicy gossip to keep the narrative going for several times the page number allotted to this text, so Lewis necessarily had to be selective in her presentation. This is, of course, the story of the English monarchs, so the various tales of the Scottish, Welsh and Irish leaders are only drawn in as they impact the English 1066 - present standard lineage.

Each page is generously illustrated with full-colour photographs, paintings, diagrams, charts and other graphic images. Not a single page is without an image and colour. The text is also laid out in such as way as to make reading very easy and pleasant, with bold face, pull-quote boxes, and other such devices employed throughout. This will make reading a history text much more palatable to younger readers - this text will be of interest to secondary school students and beyond.

There is a useful index, but it is a bit incomplete. The genealogy charts are also drawn so as to focus only upon the key figures in the drama, rather than the whole family, so readers hoping for more complete information in that regard should look to the Oxford History of the British Monarchy, or one of books by Antonia Fraser, among others. However, despite these minor flaws, the book is fun to read - one gets the sense that, had the popular press been around throughout the history of the royals, this would be very much what the stories and headlines would have looked like.

I read this book in one sitting and never put it down. Queen Goddess was able to paint a realistic picture and yet and still get straight to the point. After each and every story Queen would either tell you the moral of the story or let you figure it out for yourself. But I guarantee after every ending I did think about it and say to myself, "wow, that is so true." There are stories in this book that about incest and child molesters. Things you would or could never imagine happening to you, but the reality of it is...........it could. Some of these stories may actually open your eyes and make you take a look at the people who surround you in your own life. This book was all too real and absolutely a great read. I cannot wait untill her next book comes out.

With a change in perspective and a change in voice, the third installment of the Areane Journals is the best yet. In The Dark Sorcerer's Return, we stem the unraveling of the kingdom through King Jim's eyes. Although Jim isn't new, his perspective is fresh, and I personally find it intriguing to see new characters pulled to the forefront this way. This, Sorenesen does ingeniously, and the book does what it should in terms of expanding the reader's emotional investment in the kingdom of Areane. In fact, there are plenty of surprises revealed throughout the novel in terms of characters for those already familiar. The action is non-stop, reminiscent of every great adventure, filled with themes that strike close to the home. I recommend this as a fun read, with or without having read the first two books. I also look forward the the next book, out this fall (2008).

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!I LOVE IT!!!With this book you learn 334
vocabulary words.It is very funny.this will make a great birthday gift for a 4th 5th 6th or 7th grader becauseit will never lose their attention.BUY THIS BOOK YOU WON'T REGRET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!