Who was Marie Antoinette? by Dana Rau by Marissa Posada

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Justification:I was trying to find a Who was..? book that had een recently published and there were 3 at my local public library. It was either Jesus, Marie Antoinette, or Michael Jackson. I chose Marie Antoinette because I already know some information about her and I really liked the movie with Kirsten Dunst. I am also a history fan so Michael Jackson was too recent for me to be interested. And I did not want to touch the Jesus book because I’m not comfortable with Jesus in school.

Evaluation:This book has examples of precise vocabulary. We are used to the sons and daughters of kings and queens to be called prince or princess, this book makes clarifications of what a dauphin and dauphine are. It also clarified that the sons and daughters of emperors and empresses are called archdukes and archduchesses. It also gives a definition of absolute monarchy. It then explains the French Bourbon family and the Austrian Habsburg family and how Louis Auguste became king instead of his father. There are even French pronunciations to assist with the French words included in the text. It allows the story of Marie Antoinette to not be babied down, while giving the needed extra information about various aspects.

This book has some examples of unexpected insight. It tells the story of Marie Antoinette, where as a child she was able to do whatever she wanted since her tutors did not make her study. As she got older, her mother and tutor Vermond try to undo that and prepare her quickly for her marriage to the dauphin. After she gets married Marie Antoinette has to deal with all of the rules and etiquette required in the French court. It seemed like all she got was criticism and had no where to hide since almost everything thing she did was on display to the public. Once she becomes queen she is accountable to no one. She returns to her selfish ways and does what ever she wants. This leads her to her terrible fate. So if you don’t want to end up like Marie Antoinette, complete your studies and don’t be selfish.

This book has its illustrations reinforce the text. This is a nonfiction book so the illustrations are utilized to show what the text is talking about. A prime example is when the text talks about Marie Antoinette’s gown. There are illustrations showing the panniers and hoopskirts that made her dress have their shape. There were also illustrations showing how extravagant the poufs were at the time. It even showed how the ladies would try to scratch their scalps with the contraptions on. The illustrations in this book did a good job of illustrations that reinforced the text.

Response: I related to this text in that I also struggle with being selfish. Not on the scale that Marie Antoinette did. But I understand that there are days when you don’t want to do what is expected of you and just do what you want. This strengthened my belief that you can’t be totally selfish or it will lead you to your demise. Being social beings we have to learn to help others and do what is required of us or society as a whole will not work. I enjoyed this text as entertainment because I am always interested in the stories of historical figures. I also learned some new information about Marie Antoinette’s story, so that was a bonus for me. I also enjoyed the art because I like this style of drawing, again it reminds me of Roald Dahl’s books.

Conclusion: This book has examples of precise vocabulary, unexpted insights, and illustrations that reinforce the text. This is a good book to read if you are interested in historical figures, specifically Marie Antoinette. I would also recommend this book if you are interested in a different view point of the French Revolution. This is a good informative book Marie Antoinette and other historical events.

APA Citation: Rau, D. (2015). Who was Marie Antoinette? New York: Penguin Workshop. Retrieved from https://southtexas.overdrive.com/media/D7EBEBBA-4E83-4C35-B1D7-61C155D94738