I hated reading growing up but when I was confined to my bed in forth grade, my mother bought me the entire sereies. I developed a love for reading and sometimes would stay up half the night just to read "one more chapter". This series is great. It taught me about loving others and other great lessons from the BIble. I have these books on my shelf just waiting for my daughter to read when she is old enough.

I first read this book, as well as the whole series, back when I was a kid in the 80s. I would highly recomend this book/series for any preteen girl. There is a good mix of suspence along with Biblical principals. This book is a good reminder that God loves everyone, even the kids that no one wants. They are not beyond His care. It also shows the power of prayer and the fact that nothing is impossible for God. This is an excellent book/series.

I decided I wanted to read about great sovereigns of world history, so I made up a short list with a loose definition of 'sovereign': Alfred the Great, Alexander III of Macedon, Julius Caesar, Frederic II, etc..., and, of course, I had to include Queen Elizabeth I. Then I went to the library and was very surprised to find that Paul Johnson wrote a biography of Elizabeth I. I had read two or three other of his more famous books, and I found out this book on Elizabeth I has the same virtues Johnson's writing has in those other books - the swift 'readability' and insight and well-chosen anecdote; the common-sense and understanding of the ways of the world; as-well-as his understanding of the difference between freedom, life and light and tyranny, death and darkness; and also his understanding of which side is better. (It's not always obvious to many human beings, is it...?) And because Johnson treats the themes of Elizabeth's life in their universal light this book is very contemporary. You truly get a sense of her full life to the point where this reader was something approaching emotional at the end. Elizabethan England provides a very charismatic cast of surrounding characters as well. (I'm writing this review a year and a half beyond reading the book, and I'm not going to try to remember all the names beyond Drake and Raleigh and that unfortunate Earl of something... Mary, Queen of Scots as well. Lots of intrigue. Alot of detail. Much about 'affairs of state' and court machinations (he gets inside, in a very interesting way, the world of the royal court as well as the very real-life aspects of running the court and the country including the finances...) The 'real politik' and foreign policy is really as real and contemporary as human nature - which I believe is pretty much the same now as back then... There are many biographies of Elizabeth I in print, but those who know Paul Johnson can probably guess his book is a few notches higher than the pack. It should be back in print...

This is a savvy, insiders bio for all political junkies, and a moving depiction of a human being for the poet in all political junkies. Paul Johnson's understanding of the nature of power and the nature of human nature is surprising and impressive. His subject and the events she deals with and that take place around her are raised to the level of the universal. Even though the piling on of detail can make the reader feel at times like he's walking through a field with mud up to his knees (or she, of course), Mr. Johnson makes up for this by presenting a picture of Elizabethan England that is unusually real. This book (despite its being highly readable) is one of the great twentieth century political biographies.

This is a beautifully designed book. As to what's inside: It contains what too many of her biographers are either too dishonest, too ignorant, or, too afraid to include, i.e. her belief in God and her understanding that her country and her country's people had a unique place and a unique role in carrying out God's plan. Elizabeth I had a complete understanding. It's difficult to write off her accomplishments in learning at such a young age as being merely the result of having royal tutors helping her along. This is what many biographers try to do. There's never been an over-supply of young genius in royal families in any era. More attention, as well, should be paid to her reading. Reading great books has never been a guarantee of anything regarding somebody's understanding of themselves and the world, but it is, without exception, a key ingredient in the education (self-education or otherwise) of everybody who eventually DOES attain a real understanding of themselves and the world. Elizabeth's understanding may have even gone beyond herself and the world around her... These writings are not ideal as a window into her, but there is enough here to work up an impression above the words, and, coupled with a good biography such as the one by Paul Johnson the picture can become very complete.

Queen Elizabeth I of England has had hundreds of books written *about* her, but very few of them allow us to hear what she has to say in her own words. I found this an accessible, well-edited collection, not of *all* her words, but of a very good sample. It includes all of the speeches, prayers and poems she wrote that are available from reliable contemporary sources (as with all famous people, things have been attributed to her that she never wrote). It also includes -- and this is my favorite part -- a selection of her letters; sometimes the replies are also included, as with a series of angry letters she exchanged with King James of Scotland (all the while addressing him as "my right dear brother and cousin"). The documents range from formal speeches to Parliament to the occasional playful, teasing or personal note, such as the one she wrote to Lord Leicester in the Netherlands that begins, "Rob, I am afraid you will suppose by my wandering writings that a midsummer moon hath taken large possession of my brains..." Spelling and punctuation have been modernized, and unusual words have been footnoted, but the words are otherwise unaltered, and the texts are presented in full, sometimes in several versions where they differ significantly. I did find that a basic knowledge of the outline of the events of her life is immensely helpful in understanding who she is addressing and why, which is often mentioned only briefly in the notes. There is a certain amount of theorizing in the book's Preface about the "strategic gendering of Elizabeth's self-representation" -- but the texts really speak for themselves. This is a rare chance to see historical material that's often hard to locate, and an enjoyable chance to be "inside the head" of a fascinating historical person.

I teach speed reading to kids and this book is just right for teaching speed reading to children. I have it in my box of books that I take to all my speed reading classes for children. There are three reasons for this:

1) The story is simple. It is easy to comprehend
2) The size of the letters is pretty big. Bigger letters help make it easier to learn speed reading. Most children's books don't have lettering this large.
3) People must start learning to speed read in material that is AT or BELOW thier reading level. This book qualifies for most children.

Oh yeah, the story line is interesting and it teaches a lesson of forgiving others when we get disappointed.

--George Stancliffe

I liked this book because it had an animal TV show in it. Elizabeth and Jessica got to meet the ost and his dog! I like to see the TV show if it was a real show bescause I LOVE animals just like Elizabeth does.

This is an excellent biography not just for academics but also anyone who's interested in this period of American history or interested in women's history as well. Cleary does a great job of presenting this woman's struggles and life in a way that is entertaining as well as enlightening. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

I was at the book signing and got an autographed copy. I haven't read it yet, but the author is a hottie!!

Writing a "book" review on a play that one has not read may seem a bit presumptuous. However, my wife and I saw the US premier of this play at Houston's Stages Theater a few weeks ago and can attest that it is some of the finest entertainment we have seen in many a day. I hope that many people will read it, that college English classes will study it, and, most importantly, that numerous theater groups will stage it.

Historical. Hilarious. Poignant. An exhaustive list of appropriate adjectives would exceed Amazon's page limitations.

The play has a large cast of memorable characters including a semi-blind theater seamstress and a bear. The scene is a barn in England in 1601, and Queen Elizabeth seeks diversion from the impending beheading of her lover in the company of William Shakespeare and his band of actors. The dialogue is both scholarly and witty, with many echoes from Shakespeare's plays.

But the driving force for the drama is the point/counterpoint exchanges between "King" Elizabeth, who feels compelled to shirk her womanly feelings for the good of her country and the actor Ned, a 17th century drag-Queen. More than that I will not tell.

See it if you can, but, until it plays in your area, read the book.

In 1601, Queen Elizabeth I was forced by duty to condemn to death a man widely believed to be her former lover. On the night before the execution, she demanded that William Shakespeare's acting troup, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, perform a play to distract her from the heartbreak that would occur in the morning. This much is truth. Timothy Findley takes these historical facts, blends in a few "what if's?" and creates a powerhouse play about men, women, fantasy, death, and ultimately, love.

After a performance of Much Ado About Nothing, Queen Elizabeth goes backstage to talk with the actors, and finds them all mourning the iminent death of the Beatrice of the evening, their terminally ill leading "lady," Ned. Ned has lived all his life as a woman, and does not know how to face his upcoming death with the courage of a man. Elizabeth, by contrast, has had to destroy her feminine side in order to rule England successfully. Realising this, the two strike a bargain: Ned will teach Elizabeth how to be a woman, if she can teach him how to be a man. What follows is a heartbreaking journey of self-discovery in which Elizabeth learns how to mourn, Ned learns how to die with grace and how to live with love, and William Shakespeare finds the greatest play never written.

This is an excellent choice for any Shakespeare fan, and for any lover of theatre. Powerful, enlightening, heartbreaking and uplifting, Elizabeth Rex is an exquisite journey for the heart, with beautiful dialogue, strong characters, and fascinating arguments. A must-read.

I read this book from cover to cover yesterday, and couldn't put it down. Isabel Huggan's prose is beautiful, spot-on and wickedly funny. Her insight into the lives and minds of children is amazingly, cuttingly accurate, and I was absolutely mesmerized by the skill of her story-telling. I am ordering _You Never Know_ today, and can't wait to see more stories by this author. Fantastic.

"The Elizabeth Stories" is a collection of linked short stories about a young girl growing up in a small, stultifying Canadian town. There is constant conflict between Elizabeth's mother's emphasis on propriety and Elizabeth's own nature, which is honest, lusty, forthright and innocent. Elizabeth encounters difficult situations she cannot change, only observe.

Isabel Huggan's observations on childhood and adolescence are amazing. Her sharply accurate prose, clean and fresh, delivers instantly recognizable experiences and emotions. Though many of Elizabeth's experiences are painful, the stories are told with warmth and compassion, and some subtle humor, so they are not unbearable at all.

If you love fine writing, this is a book for you.

This Book is the greatest! It tells all About Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. In This Book, Amy Sutton And Elizabeth are playing in Amy's Backyard, in a tree. Elizabeth falls off and breaks her arm. She gets to stay home and do spaecial things and recieve special gifts. Jesica is jealous. What will Jessica do?

I love this book, because it's so amazing. This is one of my favorite. Read this book. It gives us a lesson, even if someone got hurt,just don't be jealous because if you got hurt do you want someone to envy you? of course not so let us not be jealous because that's a sin.

Many details, not revealed or available from other sources, bring to life Elizabeth's Court. Great detail in the logistics need to move Elizabeth's court during progress are revealed. Places historical events into the everyday existance of the time. A must for the Elizabethan historian.

This book gives a deep insight into the protocols and systems required in the 16th century to maintain the monarchy in a position of strength while still governing a somewhat turbulent nation.Good research brings life to places, people and events.The wider political problems of Elizabeths reign rightly take second place to the general day to day requirements of a the Tudor nobility to sustain the rigours of court functions by laying heavy demands upon local landowners and their like.A book for those with both a deep and those with a more peripheral interest in Elizabethan history

I am well above the recommended age range, but I have found this to be one of the best Bible studies I've ever done. Thoughtful and insightful, without being "cute" or condescending to its young readers. A serious and enjoyable study for girls who want to grow in their faith. It does help to read the first two of the NEW Elsie books, as excerpts are key to the lessons. The OLD series, while covering essentially the same stories, does so at a different pace and the book numbers don't line up. I can't wait to get the other studies (Millie's and Violet's).

I have found "Elsie's Life Lessons" a great aid to my spiritual life. This study guide can actually make your life more like Elsie Dinsmore's ... . It focuses on helping you accomplish virtues as listed in Galatians 5:22-23 in the Christian Bible. Be sure to follow the author's advice and go through Elsie's Life Lessons slowly. It will really help you understand the whole point of the lessons you'll be learning in this wonderful book.