Mary, Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, France, 1553

A few weeks ago, we studied Mary, Queen of Scots for history, and several days later I happened upon a My Story book about her on the section of shelves that holds books we haven’t yet read and added to the library. So, I read it aloud. This book, covering one year of the queen’s life when she was 11 years old, brings her alive in a way that the biography we read did not. We all agreed, by the end of the book, that we don’t want to be royalty!
One section of the book that my daughters (ages 11 and 6) asked a lot of questions about was where someone tried to molest one of Mary’s friends. I used that story to try to teach them what to do if someone tells them to keep an interaction a secret. Mary’s diary shows the good results show more when such behavior is exposed rather than hidden. show less

The Royal Diaries are a spin off from The Dear America series....both offer a wonderful way to teach children history. I thoroughly enjoy reading them myself.... and as a homeschooling Mom, I consider them a very valuable educational resource.

Interestingly, I read Elizabeth I Red Rose of The House of Tudor before Isabel, Jewel of Spain.... purely coincidental, not planned..... the daughter of Queen Isabel and King Fernando was married to King Henry VIII, Elizabeth's Father... she was the Mother of Mary, Elizabeth's sister, and rival. Then I read this book...... Mary Queen of Scots was cousin to Elizabeth I and was eventually beheaded for attempting to dethrone her. It was quite interesting to read them in sussesion.

Lately, I've returned to reading books of the Tudor period of history. This one was noted on the LT recommendations link on my home page.

It is a simple tale of a complex woman. There is nothing in depth about this book and I skimmed parts that seemed boring and trite.

Mary was six days old when her father, King James V of Scotland, died on the battlefield. At nine months of age, she was crowned queen of Scotland.

This book does not focus on the complexity of her tragic life, rather it reflects the time period when, as a very young child, she was sent to France to live in the court of King Henry II. An alliance was formed to wed Mary to King Henry's son Frances.

At eleven years of age she was care free when living in various palaces of the show more King. Her future husband Frances was her dear childhood friend. The book focuses on this idyllic time of her life.

While I cannot highly recommend this book, there were interesting portions, including the descriptions of Queen Catherine de'Medici and King Henry's infamous mistress Diane de Poitiers.

As always, when reading historical fiction, I'm lead down a path to study other figures. I'll look for more information regarding Diane de Poitiers. She appears to have been a fascinating woman. show less

Like the other Royal Diary books, well-written and very calming to read at bedtime. This diary inspired me to learn more about her, so I am now reading the thick tome "Mary Queen of Scots" by Antonia Fraser.

Mary became Queen of Scotland when she was just a baby, after the death of her father. But in a time where alliances among the powerful nations of Europe are important, Mary is sent away from her home at age five to live in the court of King Henry II of France, where she will be educated and live as one of the family until she old enough to marry Henry's son, Francis. The year is 1553, and Mary is eleven. She longs for her homeland, and for her mother, but is good friends with nine-year-old Francis and the other royal children. In her diary, Mary describes her daily life over one year. She may be a queen, but in many ways Mary is just like any eleven-year-old girl, enjoying fun and games. but at the same time longing to return to her show more home and mother. I really enjoyed this wonderful new Royal Diaries book, and I recommend it to all fans of the series. show less

Overall, it was another good and solid book for the series. I thought it was pretty well researched and kept me intrigued. My only complaint would be Mary complained too much about missing her mother, but I can understand why she would. 4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this book to young girls.

This is the pretend diary for Mary, Queen of Scots while she's eleven. She's growing up, enjoying life in Renaissance France, spending time with her friends, and beginning to meet the challenges of being queen. I enjoyed this more than some of the other Royal Diaries because it was more about daily life and less about political power play and some of the other issues that other Royal Diaries focus on. On the other hand, the majority of the information about dancing in this book is wrong.