Wildchild loves princesses! She loves pretending to be a princess, and dressing up like a princess, and watching movies about her favorite Disney princesses and other princesses, like Princess Strawberella! But I didn't think she would be so fascinated by a book I recently purchased called To Be A Princess. It tells the stories of twelve princesses, from different time periods and all over the world. These are definitely not fairy tales! Not every princess' life ends happily, from the beheading of Marie Antoinette to the execution of the four Russian Grand Duchesses in the cellar. But Wildchild has been interested in all of them. I have only one more to read, and she has already picked out which story she would like to then hear again, the story of the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret.
I have to admit I bought this book mainly for myself. I have had an interest in the lives of royalty for a long time. I think it started out because I was interested in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and so I learned a little about Victoria and her son, Edward VII. Then I branched out into wanting to learn more about Victoria's children and grandchildren, who ended up in just about every royal house in Europe, with sometimes disastrous results. As a person with an interest in fashion history, it's wonderful to see pictures of royalty, because of course they had to keep up with the latest fashion, and could afford to do so! Also, I am interested in history, and the stories of royalty are very much intertwined with the history of their countries. Just in the stories in the book I am reading to Wildchild, we get brief discussions of England's transition to Protestantism, the Elizabethan era, the French revolution, the Victorian era, Hawai'i becoming a state, the Russian revolution, India achieving independence, and World War II. This book is not a deep scholarly treatise, but it is fun to have, and it has nice pictures.
It is blessedly cool today, and I am wondering if we will get some rain. I know many of y'all have gotten good thunderstorms passing through, but where we are: nothin'.
5 comments:
I've noticed you have the same avitar that I do for my account with yahoo.
Has wildchild seen Anastisa? Its about a princess in early Russian times its a really nice movie,I think Disney put it out.
Um, actually we've never seen Anastasia. I have a slight aversion to it because it's wildly inaccurate, for one thing, and I heard the Rasputin scenes got pretty intense. FYI, it's not made by Disney.
As for the avatar, I guess we do kinda look alike, in coloring anyway! Your body type is a lot closer to that avatar though!
What a great way to teach history -- I love it when it comes together like that from the interest of the child! I'd love to borrow the book in September and read it to my 2 princess granddaughters
Sounds like good "reading together" time. When I was little my mom found some magnificant coloring books. They had various prince and princesses clothing for me to color. I recall the ermine robes and gold embroidery on the color plate at the back of the book. I wonder if art of history museums still carry that kind of book.
love the sound of your book. my daughter still adores princesses.. she'll be thirteen (gulp) in just over a week ;o)
"all girls are princesses" (guess the movie line- no googling allowed lol)
:o) k xx
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