Victoria: May Blossom of Britannia, England, 1829

Very soothing and enjoyable. A perfect bedtime book, to relax and wind down for the day. The diary sounded natural and realistic. And it created an in Queen Victoria -- which I never had before -- and now I want to read more about her. This is my second "Royal Diaries" book and I will definitely look for others.

(BTW, the Historical Note contains an error -- Belize, which is in Central America, was once called British Honduras. British Guiana was a different country located in South America, and is now called Guyana.)

Not my favorite book in the series thus far, but still really well written and I still learned loads. This was really informative and I think it's perfect for the age it's meant for. Very well written, easy to follow and connect with the characters. 4 out of 5 stars.

Young Princess Victoria thinks that being a princess is not that simple. You always have your governess telling you what to do, people running around the house, meeting uninteresting people… Victoria just wants some privacy and time to herself! So she steals a book and uses it as her diary and writes all her thoughts into it. She writes about life at the palace, what she learned, vacation time and more. She is constantly learning something new and she doesn’t understand why until she discovers that she is next in line for the throne.

This is a great introduction to Queen Victoria’s childhood through a diary. She writes about her feeling and what it was like to be a princess. Some parts of the diary are very simple (like the things show more she ate for breakfast) but some are very detailed (when she finds out about her future). Young readers will love young Victoria and her lifestyle. Even though it is written in a diary form, the flow of the story is very consistent, with bits of comic relief in the middle. At the end of the book, there is a short historical note about Queen Victoria’s life as well as some photographs that are related. They also include the Royal Family Tree and the readers will see how the crown was passed down to Queen Victoria. show less

Victoria became queen at the age of 18 and reigned for 64 years. This is her (fictional) diary from before she became queen. Through Victoria's eyes you see the convoluted relationships and maneuvering among those in line for the throne--though to Victoria herself the meaning behind some of the doings are completely unknown. And that is a problem. I understand the book is written for girls between the ages of 9 and 12, but it would help to have some background notes on what is actually happening between all these people.The postscript shows a timeline, family tree, short explanation of who is who and photos from that period, but it's too basic to be useful. The author's note says that Victoria actually did keep a diary--which begs the show more question--how much of this fictionalization is based on her actual diary (the author does not enlighten us)? Since a lot of the diary is about how she had to hide her diary and had trouble being alone long enough to write in it, it makes me want to read the REAL thing. Not the most exciting of the Royal Diaries. show less

Ten-year-old Victoria is a princess, but her life is anything but easy. Her father died when she was less than a year old, and she has no memories of him. Being a princess means having no privacy, which is why she decides to write her personal thoughts and feelings down in a secret diary. She describes her life at Kensington Palace, attending parties, going on summer holidays by the sea, her tiresome lessons, her dislike and distrust of her mother's financial advisor, her worries over the deteriorating health of her uncle, who is the King, and more. In this book, the young Victoria, between ages ten and twelve, comes alive as a very real girl with feelings, hopes, and dreams. I highly reccomend this newest book from the Royal Diaries show more series. It's not the best in the series but it's a solid addition. 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.

Summary: This diary follows the young Victoria, who is in line after several of her fathers brothers for the Throne of England.

Personal Reaction: I think this is a great coming of age story. I believe how Victoria is presented shows her age maturing throughout the duration of the story, and shows her struggle at not being permitted to be by herself.

Classroom extensions: A great project for the class to do would be to review favorite past times from the Victorian era, such as catching butterflies and the bicycles they used. I think it would be great to have students look at things they do and compare them to traditional things children did in that time period.