Moi and Marie Antoinette [Hardcover]

This picture-book account of Marie Antoinette, told from the perspective of her pug dog, Sebastien, highlights Antoinette's life from age 13 through her becoming queen of France and motherhood, with glimpses of eighteenth-century court life along the way. As Sebastien tells it, the queen's life leaves Antoinette unhappy, and with little time for Sebastien. But years later, after earning the affection of Antoinette's six-year-old daughter, Therese, Sebastien reminds Antoinette that happiness can be found through love, family, and, of course, dogs. The engaging, humorously vain pug delivers an animated narrative, which is whimsically illustrated in elegant, swirly, pastel-hued pictures, lavished with historical details. The dense prose and the focus on Antoinette as a teen and adult (Therese doesn't come in until the end of the story) suggest an older audience. Even so, the message is classic, and the royal pooch makes an enticing narrator, especially accessorized with period glamour. Shelle Rosenfeld
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

As a little girl in Austria, Marie Antoinette had nothing more stressful to think about than what to eat next. When just a little older she was taken to France to marry the future king and life became a lot more serious. Relishing the details of courtly life and narrating the pressures of becoming one of the world's most famous, and infamous, queens, this delightful and beautiful book brings a real historical figure to life.

Lynn Cullen is the author of picture books and novels - including the forthcoming Bloomsbury historical novel, Rembrandt's Daughter. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Author website at www.lynncullen.com Amy Young, who has illustrated the text, trained as a fine artist at Yale and received an MFA in painting from Indiana University. She then went on to earn a law degree from Harvard and worked as a lawyer for several years. She now devotes herself full time to writing and illustrating, and is the creator of the popular Belinda picture books. Visit her at www.amylyoung.com