Joan of Arc

Rating:
Summary: Diane Stanley does it again!
Review: A beautiful book! Diane Stanley carefully traces the life of Joan from her humble beginnings to her tragic end. The book even comes with a pronunciation guide to help those of us who haven't been to France. Although the language is at 8+ year old range, my 5 year old daughter loves it anyway!

Rating:
Summary: A superb illustrated juvenile biography of Joan of Arc
Review: I was sold on Diane Stanley's juvenile biography of "Joan of Arc" after reading her two-page prologue, "A Hundred Years of War," in which she explains the political situation in France when King Charles VI of France died two months after King Henry V of England. If you remember the end of Shakespeare's "Henry V," then you might be familiar with the agreement that was put into place following the Battle of Agincourt, but how many young readers have really studied that particular bit of English history by the Bard? However, in these two pages Stanley explains why the 19-year-old dauphin, Charles VII, was still uncrowned when Jeannette d'Arc in the small town of Domremy began receiving heavenly visions.

Stanley tells the familiar story of Joan of Arc in considerable detail, but always with one eye towards understanding what was happening from the perspective of a seventeen year old girl who road into battle and was proclaimed the savior of France and the other on the historical context of these events. She also pays attention to the details, listing the specific charges for which she was tried and the "confession" that she signed, which are often omitted from similar juvenile biographies, and at the end of her story she pays as much attention to the aftermath of her martyrdom as she did to setting up her life.

Throughout the book Stanley makes nice use of historical texts, dropping a lot of quotations and specific lines from the trial transcript and other sources. The text is accompanied by Stanley's illustrations, which are done in the style of the illuminated manuscripts of the time. As a result young readers will get a solid understanding of life of times of the woman called Joan of Arc by history, and be able to inform their friends that the new hit show on CBS should really be called "Jeanette (or Janet) of Arcadia."

Rating:
Summary: MY DAUGHTER LOVED IT
Review: My 8 year old daughter devoured this book in one sitting, which is amazing considering that she hardly ever reads non-fiction. (She was not pleased at the not-so-happy ending, however!)

Beautiful illustrations.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful for kids
Review: Not only was this an accurate portrayal of Joan of Arc's story, it was wonderfully written and illustrated. I would recommend it for anyone who is starting out in learning of the saint. It is educational and enjoyable for a child.

Rating:
Summary: A role model for girls
Review: This is a beautiful book that I purchased for a seven year old girl. I am a medievalist and the depictions in this book of the clothing, etc. are true to fact. The next copy I buy will be for myself as I collect good children's books on medieval times. Every year I publish of list of children's book on this time period that I recommend in our group's newsletter and this book is high on the list.