Synopses & Reviews
She was a child of wartime, for her country had long suffered under the twin horrors of invasion and civil war. At thirteen she began to hear the voices of saints. At seventeen she rode into battle and was proclaimed the savior of France. By nineteen she was dead--burned at the stake as a heretic. Almost five hundred years later she was declared a saint. This is her story, the story of Joan of Arc.
She was an illiterate peasant girl barely in her teens when the voices commanded her to leave her village, take up arms, and go to the aid of the young prince of France. Terrified, she protested--she was "Just a poor girl, who did not know how to ride or lead in war!" Still, she accepted her impossible mission and, during her brief and stunning career, faced hardship and danger, fought with unparalleled bravery, was twice wounded, and became a legend. The English, who began by mocking her as a foolish "cowgirl," soon came to fear her awesome power. The French were so inspired by this miraculous child that the tide of the dreadful war began to turn.
In the latest of her acclaimed series of picture-book biographies, Diane Stanley brings history to life through carefully researched, vivid narrative and sumptuous, gilded illustrations inspired by the illuminated manuscripts of the time. She takes readers to Joan's humble village of Domremy, to the splendid chambers where she first met the timid prince for whom she would sacrifice everything, to the battlefields where Joan fought so bravely, and to the dark and terrifying halls where she was condemned to die.
In this magnificent portrait of Joan of Arc, award-winner Diane Stanley once again reveals to young readers the richness and excitement of history.Joan of Arc grew up during a time of invasion and civil war. At thirteen, she began to hear the voices of saints. At seventeen, she rode into battle. And by nineteen, she was burned at the stake as a heretic. Almost five hundred years later, she was declared a saint. In the latest of her acclaimed series of picture-book biographies, Diane Stanley tells Joan's story with a lively, carefully researched text and sumptuous, gilded illustrations inspired by the illuminated manuscripts of that time. In this glittering portrait of the illiterate peasant girl who became the savior of France, an award-winning author once again reveals to young readers the richness and excitement of history.
00-01 South Carolina Book Award Nomination Masterlist (Grds 3-8)
Synopsis
The inspiring story of Saint Joan of Arc, one of history's most fascinating women, sumptuously illustrated by artwork inspired by the gilded manuscripts from the 15th century.
About the Author
Diane Stanley is the recipient of the Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, and the 2000
Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award for the body of her work. "There is no one like Diane Stanley...for picture-book biography -- she brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, scrupulous attention to visual and verbal nuances, and a self-fulfilling faith in her readers' intelligence"
(Publishers Weekly). Diane Stanley and her husband, Peter Vennema, have worked together on other books in Diane's award-winning biography series, including
Shaka: King Of The Zulus, Bard Of Avon: The Story Of William Shakespeare, and
Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations. Diane has also illustrated The Last Princess: The Story Of Princess Ka'iulani Of Hawaii, by Fay Stanley, and she has written and illustrated Michelangelo, Peter The Great, Joan Of Arc, Leonardo Da Vinci, Cleopatra and Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter. Her first novel, A Time Apart, was selected as one of 1999's Top 10 First Novels by ALA Booklist. Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema live in Houston, Texas.