The Year We Disappeared: A Father - Daughter Memoir

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Busby, Cylin and John Busby. 2008. The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir. NY: Bloomsbury. ISBN: 9781599901411.

BOOK REVIEW

"When my dad dies, his body will go to the Harvard Medical School at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, though I suspect they are mostly interested in his head." This is how Cylin Busby starts this compelling memoir in the prologue. One August night in 1979 Cylin and her whole family's lives are dramatically changed forever when her father, a policeman, on his way to work, is brutally shot in the face. Before that night, Cylin was a normal nine-year-old who was grumpy that her dad was not able to take her and her brothers to see The Muppet Movie that night and having fun with friends and pet box turtle. However, now with 24-hour armed protection against the man who shot her dad and may possibly be coming for the rest of things aren't as great. Written in alternating chapters, Cylin and John effectively tell their story from their points-of-view filled with emotional differences: Cylin a confused and scared child as she quickly grows up and John an angry man who is frustrated with the corrupt system and wants revenge. Readers will be caught up in the story from the very beginning as it doesn't waste time getting to the story and its bloody and frightening details. However, as John, while in hospital for numerous surgeries, reminisces to days when he first became a cop, the good men that he worked with, and the instances with local criminals who he knew were involved with his is shooting, which can drag the story on for some readers. Plus, the names of those who were invovled in shooting were changed, which can be confusing to some when doing research outside of the book. Despite the select few slow spots, the readers will stay with the story of the Cylin and John through the raw emotions of the horrible crime and its aftermath up to the very end when they begin their new life. A "where they are now" epilogue is included and helps answer one important question: Do the Busbys ever get justice and the perpetrators are caught? An engrossing and unique memoir that is a great edition to all teen library collections.

CONNECTIONS

*Encourage the readers to learn John Busby and his support of bill to extend the statue of limitations, which directly involves his case as it rain out by the time those involved in his shooting confessed.

*Encourage them to share in what they would've felt like if they were in both Clyn and John's shoes.

*Encourage them to discuss what they thought about the police and justice system years ago. Have things stayed the same or have they changed?

Poetry Across The Curriculum: Kate Shelley - A Poetry Break

INTRODUCTION
This biographical poem tells the story of a young girl’s bravery to go out in a storm to save the men from a train crash during the late 19th century. Perfect for social studies lessons, pair this poem with picture books like Kate Shelley: Bound for Legend written by Robert D. San Souci and illus. by Max Ginsburg and Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express written by Margaret K. Wetterer and illus. by Karen Ritz.


POEM

Kate Shelley
By Ann Whitford Paul

Lightning ripped apart the sky. Thunder pounded loud,
hammering relentlessly. Rain pelted from the clouds.
Kate Shelley trembled – mother, too – at the raging storm.
They moved in closer to their hearth,
Dry and safe and warm.
Then on the tracks nearby their home,
Men rode a service rain to check the rails
for damage caused by so much pouring rain.
Kate heard its bell toll once, twice, and then a roar of sound,
as if the thunder rumbled in the belly of the ground.
Kate heard its bell toll once, twice, and then a roar of sound,
Kate grabbed her lantern.
Mother begged her, “Stay!” but Kate dashed out.
The bridge was smashed! The train had crashed!
Two men clung desperately to trees.
Kate started into town for help.
The path was overgrown – she tripped and tumbled down.
Kate stood again and ran
until she reached Des Moines’ wide river.
The water lapped the railroad bridge.
Her lantern’s small flame quivered. Then it died!
Kate strained to see the ties place far apart,
stooped down to her knees, and groped on through the dark.
Jabbed by splinters, ripped by nails,
she crawled along the planks – across a span, five hundred feet.
At least she reached the bank.
Cold and wet seeped to her bones,
yet still she ran – raced fast! – to town.
The people there were horrified.
They grasped and hurried with her to the train.
Though nearly drained of hope,
the men were pulled to safety with a long and looping rope.
Kate Shelley didn’t wait for thanks,
But trudge on through the storm,
back to Mother, back to home,
dry and safe and warm

EXTENSION
Invite the children to share what they would have done if they saw that the bridge was out and the trained had crashed. After sharing the poem and other picture books, ask the children to compare the different versions of Kate Shelley’s story. Which one did they like best? Also continue the sharing of stories of heroic people in history, including girls found in All by Herself by Ann Whitford Paul.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
This poem is from:

Paul, Ann Whitford. 1999. All by Herself: 14 Girls Who Made A Difference. Illus. by Michael Steirnagle. NY: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN: 0152014772.

Asian Pacific American Lit.: Grandfather's Journey

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1993. Grandfather’s Journey. NY: Houghton Miffin. ISBN: 0395570352.

* Winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal *

PLOT SUMMARY
Allen Say pays tribute to his grandfather’s life and the love that they share for their home country of Japan and their other home in the United States.

ANALYSIS
Grandfather’s Journey is a beautiful book that tells the history of the three generations of Allen Say’s family that begins with his grandfather’s journey to America. The narrative is simple, clean and powerful. There are no more than two sentences per page as the illustrations are large, yet the text describes the journey, the love, and emotions had for two different homes that his grandfather and mother knew that eventually Say experienced when he went to America.

The illustrations play an important role in the telling of story. Taking up three-quarters of the page these watercolor art are amazing realistic yet soft. There is a sense of formality with the illustrations the gives off the essence that thee are actually pictures that are in a family photo album. It is through the illustrations that the reader’s see the progression of time, which is especially seen in the changes of clothing (e.g. and the physical aging of Grandfather. While the attention to the details of the clothing and physical appearances of the characters, there is also details as well as soft and subtle artistic freedom in the amazing backdrops of America’s West and of rural Japan. Reader’s would be fascinated in the difference of houses that Grandfather and his family live in depending on which country they are in.

It is through this beautiful artwork that the majority of the cultural markers of the book are seen. To begin the story, Say’s grandfather is depicted wearing his traditional Japanese kimono then is seen wearing European clothing (e.g. a suit, coat, gloves, and bowler hat) while standing on the deck of the steamship that is bound to America. Readers will also notice that each character have slightly different physical appearances though there is the sense of similarity as they are all part of the same family. There is one illustration in particular, when Grandfather “met many people along the way” and “shook hands with black men, and white men, with yellow men and red men.” that also represents these men’s appearances accurately for

With the combination of the narrative that moves the story along and the illustrations that compliment and that adds more power, Say’s familiar story also provides the cultural marker of how immigrants have felt when making a home in another country. Say’s grandfather loved living in California but he also missed his home in Japan. However, when he went back to live in Japan, he missed California. Because of World War II he was unable to return. When Say was sixteen he went to California to see where his grandfather had been, he then experiences the longing for his other home just as his grandfather had. With homes in two different places, Say explains at the end of the book that, “The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other. I think I know my grandfather now.”

Readers will enjoy this powerful story that tells of how a man and his grandson can share the same love and emotions for their two different homes that are halfway across the world each other. A must additional any library.

BOOK REVIEWS
KIRKUS REVIEWS
``The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other,'' observes Say near the end of this poignant account of three generations of his family's moves between Japan and the US. Say's grandfather came here as a young man, married, and lived in San Francisco until his daughter was ``nearly grown'' before returning to Japan; his treasured plan to visit the US once again was delayed, forever as it turned out, by WW II. Say's American-born mother married in Japan (cf. Tree of Cranes, 1991), while he, born in Yokohama, came here at 16. In lucid, graceful language, he chronicles these passages, reflecting his love of both countries--plus the expatriate's ever-present longing for home--in both simple text and exquisitely composed watercolors: scenes of his grandfather discovering his new country and returning with new appreciation to the old, and pensive portraits recalling family photos, including two evoking the war and its aftermath. Lovely, quiet- -with a tenderness and warmth new to this fine illustrator's work. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4+) Copyright 2003, VNU Business Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Say transcends the achievements of his Tree of Cranes and A River Dream with this breathtaking picture book, at once a very personal tribute to his grandfather and a distillation of universally shared emotions. Elegantly honed text accompanies large, formally composed paintings to convey Say's family history; the sepia tones and delicately faded colors of the art suggest a much-cherished and carefully preserved family album. A portrait of Say's grandfather opens the book, showing him in traditional Japanese dress, ``a young man when he left his home in Japan and went to see the world.'' Crossing the Pacific on a steamship, he arrives in North America and explores the land by train, by riverboat and on foot. One especially arresting, light-washed painting presents Grandfather in shirtsleeves, vest and tie, holding his suit jacket under his arm as he gazes over a prairie: ``The endless farm fields reminded him of the ocean he had crossed.'' Grandfather discovers that ``the more he traveled, the more he longed to see new places,'' but he nevertheless returns home to marry his childhood sweetheart. He brings her to California, where their daughter is born, but her youth reminds him inexorably of his own, and when she is nearly grown, he takes the family back to Japan. The restlessness endures: the daughter cannot be at home in a Japanese village; he himself cannot forget California. Although war shatters Grandfather's hopes to revisit his second land, years later Say repeats the journey: ``I came to love the land my grandfather had loved, and I stayed on and on until I had a daughter of my own.'' The internal struggle of his grandfather also continues within Say, who writes that he, too, misses the places of his childhood and periodically returns to them. The tranquility of the art and the powerfully controlled prose underscore the profundity of Say's themes, investing the final line with an abiding, aching pathos: ``The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.'' Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

CONNECTIONS *Read more books by Allen Say: Music for Alice, The Boy of the Three-Year Nap, Allison, Tea with Mil, Tree of Cranes and Home of the Brave.

Hispanic/Latino(a) Literature: Tomás and the Library Lady

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mora, Pat. 1997. Tomás and the Library Lady. Illus. by Raul Colón. NY: Alfread A. Kopf. ISBN: 0679804013.

*Winner of the 1997 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award*

PLOT SUMMARY
Tomás’ family is migrant workers. Every year they harvest fruits and vegetables during winter in Texas, where they lived, and in Iowa during the summer. When he is not doing chores and bringing water to his family, Tomás plays ball with his brother Enrique and listens to the stories that are told by his grandfather. One year, when his grandfather tells him that he is old enough to visit the library by himself to find new stories, Tomás discovers a world of books that he could get lost in and a nice librarian who encouraged his joy of reading.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Based off of the true story of Tomás Rivera, author Pat Mora presents a wonderful story of part of the life of a Mexican American boy growing up during the 1940s in a migrant family and who discovered a love for reading with the help of a librarian. One of the great aspects of the story is that the readers get a perspective of migrant workers who travels from place to place for work in an old car, shares a house with other workers and sleeps on cots and who goes to the local dump to search for iron that they could sell for money. Tomás and his brother plays ball that that is was sewn from an old teddy bear, and they look for toys and books at the dump. The story also portrays a close-knit family that consists of parents, children and a grandparent. Tomás’ grandfather is the storyteller in the family and is the one begins Tomás’ journey with books.

The narrative contains a nice integration of Spanish words and phrases into the English text. Tomás addresses his mother, father, and grandfather as Mamá, Papá, and Papá Grande. Also through out the book there are phrases such as Buenas noches (good night), En un tiempo pasado (Once upon a time), and ¡Qué tigre tan grande! (What a big tiger!). Finally, there are other time when Tomás counts the steps up to the library in Spanish and also teaches the librarian Spanish phrases and words.

Another wonderful quality of the Mora’s narration is her ability to describe the power of the books that Tomás reads and how he is enveloped into the stories. When he reads his first book the readers follow him as he see “dinosaurs bending their long necks to lap shiny water. He heard the cries of a wild snakebird. He felt the warm neck of the dinosaur, as he held on tight for a ride. Tomás forgot about Iowa and Texas” (p. 13) or when he is riding on a horse “across, a hot dusty desert” and “smelled the smoke of an Indian camp” (p. 21).

Raul Colón’s illustrations truly compliment the story. With a mixture of watercolor, colored pencils and litho pencils on etched watercolor paper there is an amazing and creative textured quality to the warm earth tone artwork. The characters are charmingly depicted. Tomás and his family members have a light brown skin town and dark brown/black hair, except for Papá Grande who has silver hair and mustache. The librarian has peachy cream skin and blonde hair and depicted as warm and friendly.

The illustrations also show how much Tomás loves the books and how he is delves into the stories. Dinosaurs, horses, Indians and teepees will fill the page, and when Tomás reads to his family of a tiger in a jungle, a larger than life tiger is lurking in the background behind the family. This continues on to the end when the readers sees Tomás hugging the book that the librarian gave him before he leaves for Texas and is imagining himself riding on the back the dinosaurs once again.

To provide a story behind the story of Tomás and the Library Lady there is “A Note About the Story” that explains who Tomás Rivera was. It was because of the discovery of books with the help of a librarian that let him become a writer, poet, and professor.

With the combination of a well blending of Spanish words and phrases in the English text and illustrations that present the world within books readers who speak of English and Spanish will all love this book.

BOOK REVIEWS
KIRKUS REVIEWS
A charming, true story about the encounter between the boy who would become chancellor at the University of California at Riverside and a librarian in Iowa. Tom s Rivera, child of migrant laborers, picks crops in Iowa in the summer and Texas in the winter, traveling from place to place in a worn old car. When he is not helping in the fields, Tom s likes to hear Papa Grande's stories, which he knows by heart. Papa Grande sends him to the library downtown for new stories, but Tom s finds the building intimidating. The librarian welcomes him, inviting him in for a cool drink of water and a book. Tom s reads until the library closes, and leaves with books checked out on the librarian's own card. For the rest of the summer, he shares books and stories with his family, and teaches the librarian some Spanish. At the end of the season, there are big hugs and a gift exchange: sweet bread from Tom s's mother and a shiny new book from the librarianto keep. Col¢n's dreamy illustrations capture the brief friendship and its life-altering effects in soft earth tones, using round sculptured shapes that often depict the boy right in the middle of whatever story realm he's entered. (Picture book. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Grade 2-4?Tomas Rivera, who at his death in 1984 was the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, grew up in a migrant family. Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest. She introduces him to stories about dinosaurs, horses, and American Indians and allows him to take books home where he shares them with his parents, grandfather, and brother. When it is time for the family to return to Texas, she gives Tomas the greatest gift of all?a book of his own to keep. Colon's earthy, sun-warmed colors, textured with swirling lines, add life to this biographical fragment and help portray Tomas's reading adventures in appealing ways. Stack this up with Sarah Stewart and David Small's The Library (Farrar, 1995) and Suzanne Williams and Steven Kellogg's Library Lil (Dial, 1997) to demonstrate the impact librarians can have on youngsters.?Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc

CONNECTIONS
*Read more books by award-winning author Pat Mora like: Confetti: Poems for Children, The Rainbow Tulip, Delicious Hullabaloo, and Dona Flor: A Tall Tale About a Giant Woman with a Great Big Heart.
*Read more books about libraries and librarians like: Library Lion by Michelle Knuden and Illus. by Keven Hawkes, The Library by Sarah Stewart and Illus. by David Small, and Library Lil by Suzanne Williams and Illus. by Steven Kellogg,

African American: Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lester, Julius. 1998. Black Cowboy, Wild Horses: A True Story. Illus. by Jerry Pinkney. NY: Dial Books. ISBN: 0803717873.

PLOT SUMMARY
Bob Lemmons, a former slave now cowboy on a ranch, has the special ability to track animals. He will follow the animals. On the hunt for wild horses, Bob and his black stallion Warrior follow the horse tracks for days until he is finally accepted as one of their own and is able to become leader of the herd and brings them back to the corrals at the ranch.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Through the well crafted Black Cowboy, Wild Horse: A True Story author Julius Lester and illustrator Jerry Pinkney have introduced young readers to one of the Old West’s legendary cowboy Bob Lemmons and his ability to become a horse in order to corral the wild horses on the western plains. Lester’s text is poetically rich and full of metaphors that describe the scenery of the open plains that Lemmons travels through as he follows the mustangs, “The sky was curved as if it were a lap on which the earth lay napping like a curled cat” (p. 2) as well as the cool patience that Lemmons exude as he calmly follows the horses. The narrative is also full of action, which is especially seen when Lemmons and his horse Warrior fight the stallion leader of the wild horses. Not only does Lester tell the story in action but also the personal descriptions of both the human and animal characters in the story.

Pinkney’s illustrations both compliments and visually continues telling the story of Bob Lemmons. In double-page spreads the illustrations fills the book with wonderfully detailed watercolors. The depictions of the horses and the plains are beautifully accurate. In particular the part when Lemmons has become the leader of the herd and is now the “sky and plains and grass and river and horse” and the illustrations shows the wild horses following the cowboy across the plains and in the sky are billowing clouds that have the faint images of wild horses. Pickney’s artwork also presents the readers with various points of views in order to truly show the beauty of the horses in movement and the land that Lemmons roamed.

Though this book is about an African American cowboy that is known in America’s Wild West history, there is a very limited number of cultural markers present in the entire book. The only mention of the African American culture is when the narrative explains that “Bob had been a slave and never learned to read words” (p.5). The illustrations are the only other cultural marker that presents a depiction of Lemmons with chocolate brown skin and short curly hair. Though this could be considered a weakness in the book one must take into consideration that story is not about Lemmons himself but how he became one of the wild horses in order to bring them back to the ranch were he worked.

With the combination of Lester’s detailed and poetic narrative and Pinkey’s beautifully detailed and executed illustrations readers are able to catch a glimpse into the life of a legendary cowboy from America’s history.

REVIEWS
BOOKLIST
Ages 5^-9. One of every three cowboys who helped tame the Wild West was either Mexican or black. This is the true story of one of the latter, Bob Lemmons. In language rich with simile and metaphor, Lester's account focuses on the former slave's uncanny tracking abilities as he trails a herd of mustangs as well as his mission to tame the wild horses and lead them back to the corral. Pinkney's earth-colored gouache and watercolor paintings add the look of the Texas plains to Lester's account and capture the energy of the horses as they gallop across sweeping, double-page spreads. Lester and Pinkney's manifest love and respect for the West and cowboys of color, whose contributions have been too long overlooked, distinguish their latest collaboration. Michael Cart

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
Grade 2-4APinkney and Lester add a picture-book chapter to the lore of this nation's "true West" with the retelling of a story of a wild horse hunt by the black cowboy Bob Lemmons. He and his stallion, Warrior, wander on the prairie until they find the tracks of the animals they seek. Bob then spends days in a very slow approach to the herd. Horse and rider finally join the herd and are accepted by the wild horses, until at last Bob challenges the lead stallion for control. On Warrior's back, he fights the stallion, defeats him, and then leads the animals into captivity in the ranch corral. Throughout, both text and pictures emphasize the blending of all life. The linkages between the cowboy, the animals, and the natural world are so strong that lines separating them are blurred. Lester and Pinkney's stated aims were to recast their childhood love of cowboys and the Old West with more recent historical research into the contributions of men of color, both black and Hispanic. They have done that, and achieved something else as well: youngsters will reflect on the relationships between humans and other animals. Pinkney's pictures were never better, making it all the more unfortunate that text boxes cover some of the action. Lester's overuse of metaphor is also a drawback. Still, this book will inspire heavy-duty thinking on the part of young readers.ARuth Semrau, formerly at Lovejoy School, Allen, TX Copyright 1998

CONNECTIONS *Read more about African American cowboys with books like Bill Picket: Rodeo-Ridin’ Cowboy by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illus. by Brian Pinkey.
*Read more books by Julius Lester: John Henry (illus. by Jerry Pinkney) and Sam and the Tigers: A Retelling of ‘Little Black Sambo (illus. by Jerry Pinkney).
*Read more books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney: The Patchwork Quilt (written by Valerie Flournoy) and The Talking Eggs (written by Robert D. San Souci)

Informational Books: A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lasky, Katheryn. 2003. A Voice of Her Own: The Story of Phillis Wheatley, Slave Poet. Illus. by Paul Lee. Mass: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 0763602523.

BOOK REVIEW
In her picture-book biography, Lasky presents the readers the accessible story of the first African American poet, Phillis Wheatley. As a child, Phillis was kidnapped from her home in Africa and was brought to the American colonies to be sold. She was bought by the Wheatley family to serve as a servant and companion to Mrs. Susannah Wheatley, who named the little girl after the slave ship that she was brought on and who allowed Phillis to be educated. By the age of twelve Phillis was writing poetry, and by the age of seventeen she was famous for writing a poem to honor the Reverend George Whitefield. Presented in miniature chapters that serve as vignettes, the portrait covers the important moments of Phillis’ life and accomplishments that were surrounded by the major events of America’s pre-Revolutionary War history and concludes with an brief epilogue of Phillis dismal adult years and her early death. Lasky includes excerpts of Phillis’ poems and the draws upon the poems for insight into the feelings of this young woman. Lee’s acrylic full-spread illustrations enhance the over all books and accurately depicts the individuals and places relevant to the history. Though, Lasky doesn’t make mention of the Susannah Wheatley’s son Nathaniel who served as Phillis’ tutor and does not include a bibliography, this is a book that can be used as jumping off point to continue learning about this young poet who lived during the pivotal moment in America’s history and who is the founder of African American literature.

CONNECTIONS
*Learn more about that amazing poet with:

– Phillis Wheatley: Young Revolutionary Poet by Kathryn Kilby Borland, Helen Ross Speicher and Illus. by Cathy Morrison
– Phillis Wheatley: Slave and Poet by Robin S. Doak
– Hang a Thousand Trees with Ribbons: The Story of Phillis Wheatley by Ann Rinaldi
– Revolutionary Poet: A Story About Phillis Wheatley by Maryann N. Weidt and Illus. by Mary O’Keefe Young

*Read Phillis Wheatley’s poems and letters: Phillis Wheatley: Complete Writings

Historical and Biography: Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stanley, Diane and Peter Vennema. 2001. GOOD QUEEN BESS: THE STORY OF ELIZABETH I OF ENGLAND. Ill. by Diane Stanley. NY: HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN: 0688179614.

PLOT SUMMARY
This biography follows the life of England’s passionate and strong-willed Queen Elizabeth I from her birth, through her forty-five year reign and to her death.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Authors Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema has created a wonderful biography of Queen Elizabeth I that is filled with accurate information presented in a form of story and detailed illustrations. The story of Elizabeth I is greatly detailed and at times complex; however Stanley and Vennema have taken the important information and have written it in a very clear and concise way.

The actual historical facts come in various forms. To begin the book, Stanley and Vennema provides as note about the religious movement that was happening during this period time and how it was important to the country of England, especially during Elizabeth’s reign. Elizabeth’s story begins with the account of her father King Henry VIII and is continuous desire for a male heir and introduces his six wives, who he was able to marry because he declared changed England’s religion from Catholicism to the new Church of England. The authors also use dates in their text, such as on November 17, 1558 when Queen Mary, Elizabeth’s half-sister, died and Elizabeth was crowned as the new queen, which the readers a perspective when these events happened.

The personal details of Elizabeth truly allow the readers to gain a greater understanding of how she was a person. She was highly educated, speaking five languages other than English, and was talented in many areas. Because of her education, as the readers will discover further on, Elizabeth was able to be a discuss matters with foreign governments, how to intelligently handle her own councilors, and rule her country will a tolerable but firm hand. The story also creates a window into the feelings Elizabeth had on many events that happened during her reign. For example, despite the fact that Mary, the Queen of Scots was convicted of conspiring against her and was executed, Elizabeth grieved for the Mary, who was in fact her cousin and because they had never met. Other matters that Elizabeth felt strong about was the pressures and desires on her to marry and have an heir. However, since she knew that this would involve marrying a man from another country, which would not only benefit that country but it also meant that she would have to relinquish her reins has ruler to her husband. Keeping her country in her best interest, she never married and continued to be the ruler who loved her country and her people.

Stanley and Vennema also provide accurate quotes. A wonderful example of this is seen when Elizabeth addressed her army before they fought against the Spanish Armada. She states, “I know that I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart… of a king – and a king of England,” (p. 28) which as actually a direct quote from the speech that she truly did made in 1588.

The illustrations that Diane Stanley created for this book are wonderfully detailed and reflect the ornate decorations and fabrics that are seen during the Elizabethan Era. Though the overall appearance of the scenes depicting Elizabeth, other characters, and her surroundings are slightly two-dimensional in nature, the details of the clothing are remarkably accurate, the trunk hose (the puffy round pants that the men wore over tights), their doublets (the coats), and even their duckbilled shoes are accurate to the time. This is especially the case for Elizabeth. Her ornate jewelry, hair ornamentations, the farthingale-style of garments, the high lacy-collar, and even the fancy brocade fabric is accurate recreated and reflect many of her portraits scene in museums. By using the illustrations, the authors have yet another method to show the readers the years passed, which is not only seen in the different styles of clothing but also in the facial appearances of the characters. Elizabeth appearance began as a young woman and has the years passed her appearance begins to age. The end of the book the illustrations depict Elizabeth depicted wearing her unnatural red wig, white skins and red rouge, her wrinkle face.

The organization and design of the Good Queen Bess: The Story of England’s Queen Elizabeth I is executed well. The story begins with the story of Henry VIII and his search for a wife who could provide an heir and ends with Elizabeth’s death in 1603 and the crowning of James VI. There is an illustration on every page. The text is always situated on the lower portion of the page with an illustration above. At the very end of the book, author also provide their bibliography of the sources they used and they also provide a bibliography of recommended books for young readers who would like to read more about the most powerful queen that England ever had.

BOOK REVIEWS
HORN BOOK GUIDE
Complexities of politics and personality are necessarily simplified for this slim, handsome volume, but their substance is remarkably well conveyed. This is a welcome reissue of a fascinating introduction to one of history's most influential figures. Inc. All rights reserved. (April 1, 2002)

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Once again available from the husband-and-wife team behind Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, here is another biography from the Elizabethan Age: Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of England (1990) by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema, illus. by Stanley. Describing the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, the authors lay the groundwork for Queen Elizabeth's greatest challenges: stopping the bloodshed and uniting her country under one faith, and keeping the peace with the rest of Europe. Intricate artwork conveys the delicate lace and accoutrements of court dress, patterned ceilings and cobblestone streets. (Aug.). (September 3, 2001)

CONNECTIONS
*Read more about Queen Elizabeth I with books like Elizabeth I and Tudor England by Stephen White-Thomson and Queen Elizabeth I by Betka Zamoyska.
*Learn about other famous figures and the time period itself with books like Shakespeare and the Elizabethan Age by Andrew Langley.
*Learn about the clothing worn during Elizabeth’s time with books like Elizabethan England by Kathy Elgin.
*Make lace collars like the men and women wore during the Elizabethan Era by accordion fold layers of tissue paper and paper clip it in the back of the neck.