Compare this book to another biography for children, Before There Was Mozart by Lisa Cline-Ransome and James Ransome. ( )

Given that it was a picture book, I decided to take a gamble and get it anyway, even though my nieces aren't in the age range. 6 and a half is ALMOST 9, after all, right...?

Wrong, definitely. This is NOT a read-aloud book, nor a good book for a kid who just recently learned to read. It has pages of long, advanced text, with insets providing more detail about, say, the French Revolution, or Slavery in French Colonies, or Marie Antoinette. And the illustrations are carefully captioned.

The end effect is a lot more like reading a history textbook, albeit a well-written one, than a story.

This book would be a real find for anybody looking for somebody new for Black History Month (or any other time of year when you expect children to write their book reports on biographies). Joseph Boulogne had a fairly interesting life on his own merits. This book doesn't suit my purposes as a read-aloud for my young nieces, but I'm keeping it until they're older and giving it four stars on the theory that, for the right age range, it's a really awesome book. If I change my mind when my nieces hit that age I'll come back and edit this review. ( )

biography of a forgetten yet amazing nobleman who started life as the son of a slave and a plantation owner on the French island of Guadalupe. Handsom, intelligent and beloved of his father, Joseph, despite his mixed race was given the finest education and excelled in nearly all fields of endeavor. One-time champion fencer of France he was also a brilliant musician. hewrote and conducted his own concertos and operas ans was favorite at the court of King Louis and Queen Marie Antoinette. He was also a military man and diplomat.
The book does well to highlight the accomplishments of a man who has been forgotten for more than two centuries.