European

Camille and the Sunflowers

"Where Camille lived, the sunflowers grew so high they looked like real suns. . .One day a strange man arrived in Camille's town. He had a straw hat and a yellow beard." So begins this fascinating tale of Camille, a little boy who is the son of a small-town postman. Camille meets the man with the yellow beard, and they become friends. This bearded man is a painter named Vincent van Gogh. The story, based on a true-life incident, is beautifully illustrated in full color by the author. This unusual picture storybook will appeal to children who love art-and also to children who simply enjoy a good story.

Boy: Tales of Childhood

In Boy, Roald Dahl recounts his days as a child growing up in England. From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books. Packed with anecdotes— some funny, some painful, all interesting— this is a book that's sure to please.

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife to two kings, mother to two others, has been waiting in Heaven a long time -- eight centuries, more or less -- to be reunited with her second husband, Henry II of England. Finally, the day has come when Henry will be judged for admission. While Eleanor, never a patient woman in life or afterlife, waits, three people, each of whom was close to Eleanor during a time of her life, join her. Their reminiscences do far more than help distract Eleanor -- they also paint a rich portrait of an extraordinary woman who was front and center in a remarkable period in history and whose accomplishments have had an important influence on society through the ages.

Yellow Star

Degas and the Little Dancer

Many years ago, Marie hoped to be a famous ballerina, but because her family had too little money for lessons she began modeling at the ballet school. The painter for whom she modeled was the artist, Edgar Degas. As Degas' figure of The Little Dancer took shape, Marie began to feel sympathy for the bad-tempered artist. When the sculpture was finished, thousands of art lovers came to see the statue, making Marie the most famous dancer of all. Here is an exquisite introduction to the life of a great nineteenth-century French artist, with beautiful impressionistic illustrations and reproductions of Degas' own work.

Rashi's Daughter, Secret Scholar

The tale of a young girl who challenges conventions to engage in Jewish learning

Set in 11th-century Troyes, France, Rashi's Daughter, Secret Scholar tells the story of Joheved, eldest daughter of Salomon ben Isaac (known as Rashi), one of the great medieval Jewish Bible commentators. At a time when women traditionally were barred from studying Jewish texts, Rashi secretly teaches first Joheved, then her sister Miriam. By day, Joheved helps in running the household and the family winemaking business, and by night she studies Talmud with her father.

As she nears marriageable age, Joheved finds her mind and spirit awakened by religious study, but she must keep her passion for learning and prayer hidden. When she becomes betrothed to Meir ben Samuel, she is forced to choose between marital happiness and being true to her love of the Talmud. Will she fulfill the expected role of a Jewish woman or pursue a path of Jewish learning?

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 (The Royal Diaries)

Anastasia is a carefree young duchess, daughter of Nicholas Alexandrovitch Romanov, tsar of all the Russias in 1914. While her father attends to the turbulent affairs of a vast and complex country, Anastasia's major concerns are how to get out of her detested schoolwork to play in the snow, go ice skating, or have picnics. She wears diamonds and rubies, and every morning her mother tells her which matching outfit she and her three sisters shall wear that day. Slowly a hint of future trouble enters her happy, pampered life. Anastasia's younger brother, the future tsar, is a hemophiliac--a "bleeder" who cannot stop bleeding if he is cut or bruised. Anastasia begins to learn that all is not well in the outside world, either. Not everyone in Russia worships her father as she does, and the Germans are about to declare war on Russia. Anastasia's world gradually deteriorates, as reported in her youthful, often playful journal.

As Russia entered World War I, hunger and poverty grew among the peasants, and the Romanov ruling family began to lose favor, culminating in their murders--including Anastasia's--by Bolshevik revolutionaries. This fictionalized diary of the mischievous youngest daughter's last four years gives a fascinating glimpse into a life of unlimited wealth--and the subsequent downward spiral. Historical notes, family trees, and photographs round out Carolyn Meyer's compelling contribution to the popular Royal Diaries series. (Ages 9 to 14) --Emilie Coulter

Picasso and the Girl with a Ponytail

Here is the fascinating story -- based on true fact -- of a world-famous artist and a little girl who became one of his models. Sylvette first met Picasso in 1954, when she was a girl in the southern French town of Vallauris. At that time, she was the shyest and dreamiest girl among her friends, though today, she is a respected artist in her own right. When Picasso set up his studio in a nearby house, he spotted young Sylvette and was taken immediately by her classical profile and her lovely ponytail. When at last he convinced her to pose for what became the first of more than forty works of art, the two gradually became good friends. Before long, Picasso's portraits of Sylvette became famous around the world.

Morning Star of the Reformation (Light Line Ser.)

When young John of Wycliffe arrives at Oxford University, he finds it a fascinating and perilous place. With his friend, Sebastian Ayleton, John experiences the terrible plague called the "Pestilence" (the Black Death), and he becomes involved in clashes between university factions as well as riots among the townspeople. Whenever he can find time away from his studies, John's favorite place is the inn of the Kicking Pony. There he and his companions discuss the political and religious issues of the day, and it is with his friends that he first shares his growing vision of an English Bible for all Englishmen to read. In the darkness of medieval England, John's pursuit of truth gleams like a solitary star: the morning star that promises the sunrise to come. He paved the way for the theologians of the next century and opened hearts in preparation for the great Reformation itself.

Boy Who Dared