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"Why this book about the ten queens? These are not women who were called queens because they happened to marry a king and had little or nothing to say about ruling the country. These ten were women of power."

From start to finish, I fell completely in love with this book for various reasons, but mostly because I have always been very interested in women of power, particularly queens. From the lovely pictures of each queen, to the captivating biographies and intriguing facts, the ways to incorporate this into other readings or using it alone as a lesson or project seem endless, although it would depend on the age of audience. I think this could also lead into a great discussion about other women of power in history where I could ask the class what other women possess power that are/were not necessarily queens. I will be buying this book for future use!

I read the section about Eleanor of Aquitaine to my kids. It was a little long for a read-aloud, but they followed it fairly well. My daughter seemed excited to learn about Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland's mom. Reading the section made me want to see "The Lion in Winter" again.

It's due back at the library soon, but I'm going to try to read another couple of sections before we return it. ( )

This book is the complement to Meltzer's "Ten Kings." It covers the life, times and reign of ten historical queens and offers a glimpse into their past.

This book would be great for any student who is interested in royalty (I myself love it). It's at an advanced reading level (and long), so it may require discussion to appeal to younger grades, but it is very informative and interesting. Also, as some rulers of the past were violent, it would be most appropriate for the older grades. It is an excellent source of information for Social Studies, specifically for cultural and world history.

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