Anastasia's Album: The Last Tsar's Youngest Daughter Tells Her Own Story
by Hugh Brewster, Peter Christopher (Photographer), Shelley Tanaka (Illustrator)
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Photographs and excerpts from personal letters tell the story of Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, who is believed to have been executed along with the rest of her family during the Russian revolution in 1918.Tags
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reading-machine It is, truly, told through stuff. An amazing read for anyone who has a sense of humor.
reading-machine It is really amazing. There are real objects in photos (watercoloured over), as well as watercolour illustrations.
Member Reviews
I thought this book was gorgeous. The history of Nicholas II and Alexandra's family up to the revolution was presented with their own family photos as illustration. It was a bit jarring to realize that like many families today the Russian monarchy enjoyed taking snapshots of their children. Family photos tend to reveal things that posed portraits do not. With this book, which is arranged chronologically we see glimpses of silly little girls and their parents. I particularly liked the photo of the daughters rollerskating on the deck of the Tsar's yacht, and the photo of the girls with shaved heads after their bouts with measles. History is made real when the persons involved can evoke a feeling be it good or bad. It's easy to understand show more political motivations for the revolution, but at the same time the monarchy were individuals as well. This book does a nice job of causing real thought by presenting people rather than figureheads, they way they saw each other. show less
This was a nice book but the majority of it is photographs, so don't look for a detailed biography here. It is still a cute book with some great pictures and some fascinating bits of history, but do note that this book offers some speculation on Anastasia's survival - this was before her remains were found/and her demise confirmed (Anna Anderson is mentioned in the book, she was proven beyond a doubt to NOT be Anastasia via DNA testing)
This book is appealing because it is a real-life princess story and tragedy, but it is especially compelling because of primary source material: pictures, letters, and drawings by the young princess.
meant to be a children's book, this sad little picture book is full of pictures of the Tsar's youngest daughter. Her words are used here as well and it is a poignant and touching story of her life and death.
This beautiful picture book made up from photographs from the last Tsar of Russia's youngest daughter, Anastasia, is definitely for the older reader. It has an entire story woven through photos, quotes and letters. History buffs will be sure to enjoy all the details of this book.
This version of Anastasia's life story is short and sweet giving the reader all the basic's of her short life. The book can satify all readers, those wanting just basic information, as well as those that read this book and it entices them to want to read more indepth about her life. This book is also good for pre-teens who find they are interested in history.
Historical Fiction
Anastasia's Album is a wonderful Historical Fiction children's book that gives the reader a unique insight into the last ruling family of Russia under Tsar Nicholass II of the Romonavs in Imperial Russia 1901-1918.
From family photos to elaborate descriptions of the imperial grand balls, Hugh Brewster combines all of the photos and details from the Tsar's youngest daughter Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna to give a distinctive and intimate account of historical fiction. Compiling her own letters and photographs of the Imperial family, the book provides snippets of daily life, the birth of her brother Alexei (who was discovered to be a hemophiliac during his infancy), letters written by Anastasia to her family and show more friends, and the influence of the Imperial family up until the Bolshevik takeover and the tragic fate of the Imperial family. Certainly a powerful and insightful historical fiction for children and adults to read--in cirriculum for middle school to high school level education. show less
Anastasia's Album is a wonderful Historical Fiction children's book that gives the reader a unique insight into the last ruling family of Russia under Tsar Nicholass II of the Romonavs in Imperial Russia 1901-1918.
From family photos to elaborate descriptions of the imperial grand balls, Hugh Brewster combines all of the photos and details from the Tsar's youngest daughter Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna to give a distinctive and intimate account of historical fiction. Compiling her own letters and photographs of the Imperial family, the book provides snippets of daily life, the birth of her brother Alexei (who was discovered to be a hemophiliac during his infancy), letters written by Anastasia to her family and show more friends, and the influence of the Imperial family up until the Bolshevik takeover and the tragic fate of the Imperial family. Certainly a powerful and insightful historical fiction for children and adults to read--in cirriculum for middle school to high school level education. show less
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Author Information

30+ Works 2,461 Members
A longtime editor of books for both children and adults, Hugh Brewster is also the author of some acclaimed works for young readers. Born in London in 1950, Brewster was an editor for both Scholastic Books and Scholastic Canada before becoming editorial director for Madison Press Books in Toronto in 1984. Brewster's book Anastasia's Album (1996), show more was about the youngest daughter of Nicholas II and Alexandra, the last tsar and tsarina of Russia, who were killed along with their children by Bolsheviks in 1918. Brewster researched the work in Moscow's state archive, where he found Anastasia's translated diaries and hand-colored letters among the papers and photo albums of the tsar's family. Brewster has also written Inside the Titanic (1997), a lavishly illustrated book which uses the story of two young passengers to explore the doomed ocean liner. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Anastasias Album: Die jüngste Tochter des letzten Zaren erzählt ihre Geschichte
- Original publication date
- 1998-03
- People/Characters
- Anastasia Nikolayevna Grand Duchess of Russia; Alexandra Feodorovna, Empress of Russia; Marie Feodorovna, Empress of Russia
- Important places
- St. Petersburg, Russia
- Important events
- Assassination of Russian imperial family; Russian Revolution
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genre
- Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 947.08 — History & geography History of Europe Eastern European Counties and Russia Russian & Slavic History by Period 1855-
- LCC
- DK254 .A7 .B74 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics – Poland History of Russia. Soviet Union. Former Soviet Republics History House of Romanov, 1613-1917
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 355
- Popularity
- 88,589
- Reviews
- 8
- Rating
- (4.20)
- Languages
- 5 — Danish, Dutch, English, German, Russian
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 12





























































