The Raucous Royals

The Raucous Royals, by Carlyn Beccia,is a wonderful book for children, aged eight and up. It will teach them a little history. More importantly it makes reading fun. Of the greatest importance is probably that The Raucous Royals, introduces children to (or reinforces for them) the idea that it's important to weigh evidence and to not believe everything they hear or read.

Critical thinking! It's the thing I think children are most in need of. So, yes, I loved The Raucous Royals, and was thrilled that my kids, both fifteen, read it cover to cover.

The book also gives kids some tools in case they want to study history for themselves. That's great. Give a young person a history book and he'll have one history book stuffed in the bottom of his locker, I always say. But teach him to sleuth out the facts and he'll have access to huge resources of knowledge for the rest of his life. (OK, maybe that's not quite as pithy as the "give a man fish" saying, and it may not be entirely true, even, but you get the drift.)

In sixty-four fun-filled pages, Beccia exposes us to several royal rumors, some that people have been repeating as fact for centuries, and others that were obscure. She then gives us the evidence so we can decide for ourselves if we believe the rumor is true or not. Along with that, she gives us lots of interesting facts about the royals--which queen used puppy urine as a beauty treatment? You'll find that thrilling information, and much, much more, in The Raucous Royals.

And then there are the illustrations. Delightful!

In fact, this book is pretty delightful all the way around.

Links of interest:

• Carlyn chatted with Becky from Becky's Book Reviews.
• An interview with the author at Fireside Musings.
• A fun discussion about the book between a children's librarian and a couple of book lovers.
• The Raucous Royals Blog. This has got to be one of the most interesting blogs I've ever read.

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Copyright © 2008 Sally Apokedak