To Be a Princess: The Fascinating Lives of Real Princesses - Hardcover

Hugh Brewster is the award-winning author of Anastasia's Album and Inside the Titanic, and the co-author of 882 1/2 Amazing Answers To Your Questions About the Titanic with Laurie Coulter.

Gr 4 Up-Students and teachers alike will appreciate the research and literate style of this unusual approach to collective biography. The authors have chosen to focus on 12 royals-some well known, others more obscure-and to illustrate their public and personal lives. The book begins by exploring the rivalry between Queen Elizabeth I and her half sister, Mary Tudor. A later chapter is devoted to Hawaii's Princess Ka`iulani, who fought to keep her island nation independent, and who died tragically at age 24. Time lines place each princess in historical context, showing the national and world events happening during her era. Although the choice of royals doesn't exhibit a broad representation of nations (five of the princesses are from the British monarchy), the format works because of the informative artwork. Readers will want to study the color portraits that have been reproduced from museum collections. The authors offer meticulous credits for these and other illustrations, as well as a strong selected bibliography. However, because of this painstaking research, one wonders about the need for supplemental paintings by McGaw, used on the cover and throughout the work. Although they are beautiful, they serve to modernize the look of each princess. In a book as well documented as this, it seems that more can be learned from the original portraits than from stylized representations, but this criticism should not discourage purchase.

Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.