Series: English Heritage Series.
Subject Areas: History, Humor.
Ages: 4 5 6 7 8 9 10.

This hilarious book was written with the help of a REAL princess -- Princess Beatrice von Preussen, a great-great-great-great granddaughter of Queen Victoria and a descendent of the Prussian royal family. Would you like to see her? The handbook is a tongue-in-cheek look at royalty and although some of it may be true, it's definitely meant to be silly.

You'll begin with a quiz to see if you have what it takes to be a princess, learn all the rules and regulations, how to relate to servants, fashion do's and don't's, become talented at choosing jewels, and learn to perform your public duties. Then there's the royal etiquette! Curtseying, waving, behaving at banquets and such, then you'll finish making your way thru a maze of questions to see if you're really princess or peasant. I appreciated the page with place settings at a banquet and how to select the right fork, knife, spoon and glass. (This was accurate as far as I could tell.)

The book is fun, feminine(with a pink ribbon to mark your spot) and most girls will love it. This is a companion to the Knight's Handbook I reviewed earlier this year. I would add this to any study of the Medieval Age just for fun, and encourage a writing assignment on what it might be like to be a member of a royal family. If you want to read something on the more serious side about royalty, check out Usborne's Victorians or Kings and Queens .

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Of Interest To: Parents, Teachers, Librarians and Media Specialists