Laurie Coulter

Embellished with quotes and historical asides, Cowboys and Coffin-Makers does a superb job of capturing the 19th-century work world. Some of the jobs included are exactly what you'd expect to find---frontier farmer, coal miner, robber baron---but Coulter covers several lesser known occupations as well---hokey pokey seller, breaker boy, sandhog---and presents all of them with fresh facts and a good dose of humor. Personally, I've come to the conclusion that salt maker might have been just the show more job for me in 19th-century America...and maybe I'd have written a dime novel or two on the side. show less

I'm trying to be as neutral as possible with this book because I am a major history buff, and this book barely scratches the surface. I kept thinking to myself, there needs to be more info!!!

I had to remind myself that this is a book for younger audiences (I'd say ages 8-12?) so each of the 8 biographies were quite brief. From a neutral perspective, I'd say that the information was presented at an age-appropriate level, but I can't say that this is a book to keep.

The biographies mainly focus show more on the lives of various princesses when they're young (childhood to 20's) and touch on the lives of Mary and Elizabeth Tudor (later known as Bloody Mary and Elizabeth I), Marie Antoinette, Queen Victoria, Ka'iulani, the daughters of the last Tsar of Russia (including the infamous Anastasia) Gayatri Devi, and Elizabeth and Margaret Windsor (later Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret)

I would have liked to see more diversity in the princesses since it's mostly Eurocentric, and I think the author should have tried to add at least a few more princesses.

One thing I can positively say is that this would be a good read for girls who have the whole Disney-princess trope stuck in their heads. I've seen what the Disney Princess line can do to girls' fantasies, so a hard dose of reality (age-appropriate) is what this book provides to make it clear that to be a princess does not guarantee a charmed life, and often does the opposite, in fact.

The illustrations done by the artist are pretty nice to look at, though. show less

How often can an adult read a children's book for the 4th time and find something new? There is so much fun, games, projects, history, maps, and bits of stories, that I'll be reading it again. If you have a shelf of books on the Maya and Aztecs, the images will be familiar, but seen in a new way -- to capture the imagination of 4th-8th graders as they write secret messages to their friends, and learn of both early explorers, and ancient Maya rulers--history from both before and after show more Columbus. Among Coulter's mesoamerican consultants is British graphic designer - turned epigrapher Simon Martin. Secrets in Stone is a graphically stunning volume. Turning each page is a surprise. My latest discovery is the embossed endpapers in the back. The glyph outlines are raised, suitable for rubbings, or the sensitive fingertips of students who read braille. A great book to share with younger children. show less

There are probably several books out there doing a beter job of introducing these princesses to kids (the Royal Diaries series comes to mind) and getting them to ´connect´ with these historical figures.
On the other hand, the texts are concise, and a decent introduction to both the princesses and non-fiction reading, even though it only scratches the surface on both.
Not very effective, however, if you want to break the Disney-bewitchment.
That the selected bibliography suggests 4 books by show more Carolly Erickson, who is known to be a bit... cavalier with her historic facts and sources, also casts a bit of a shadow on this tome. show less