RATING: 3 STARS
(Review Not on Blog)

A cute picture book for older children on popular and obscure women rulers.

***I received an eARC from NETGALLEY***

Limited subjects. Felt incomplete. Opaque writing. Underwhelming. I wouldn't recommend to any of my younger readers.

'Her Majesty: An Illustrated Guide to the Women who Ruled the World' by Lisa Graves is a look at famous and infamous rulers. It shows the kinds of influence and power they had.

The women featured in the book are from many countries and times starting with Hapshepsut of Egypt and going all the way to Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. Each woman gets a full page painting and a short bio including their greatest achievement. For Queen Victoria, this was surviving six assassination attempts. For Lakshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, it was leading her people in fighting against their oppressors.

This is book full of facts and great pictures. It doesn't include every woman ruler, but it includes a very interesting selection.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Xist Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.

What a fun, beautiful, and educational read! Learning about women in history is so important for young girls. This book provides examples of historical role models that contemporary girls can look up to.

Interesting fare for young readers but a sanitized (understandably) retelling of history. Well-organized introduction to queens of all epochs and countries, starting with ancient Egypt. This is the kind of book that will (hopefully) spur interest in reading more about the queens chronicled here. Appealing illustrations throughout.

An interesting blend of subjects here. Mostly they are who we could expect: a pharaoh, Catherine the Great, Elizabeth I, Victoria. There were a few, though, who I'd never heard of. It was nice to see a number of cultures represented. And while the explanation of each queen's contribution is brief, its enough to whet the interest of young readers.

A fabulous look at ruling women, throughout the world and time. Over half the people in here I had never heard of before. I find the variety of stories fascinating, and it is just the right length to get you interested and eager to do your own research.

This is a pretty short book, but it has a lot of information in it. It's broken up into small bits so that it's not so intimidating. One thing I especially liked was that the queens that were chosen were, for the most part, not the ones that you would expect in a book like this. There was information in the back on how to find information on more queens, so if you wanted to find out information on the ones you might have expected, you can. The author even lists a few more to get you started. I also really liked the illustrations.

For a massive history fan like myself this book was great - it covers a wide range of women with different backgrounds over several thousand years - I loved the layout, the images, the facts - the whole concept! It is definitely a book that I would want to get for my daughter when she is older to show her how strong women can be and you don't need a man to rule any country! 5 stars from me

Essere un sovrano non è mai stato facile, soprattutto per le donne, spesso disprezzate, sottovalutate, o rifiutate semplicemente perché femmine.
Eppure, ogni volta che una di loro ha potuto esprimere il proprio potenziale, è riuscita a scolpire il suo nome nella storia, nel bene o nel male.

Her Majesty è un piccolo volumetto di sole 32 pagine, che racconta di 13 sovrane, alcune oramai famosissime, come Elisabetta I o Isabella di Castiglia, altre più sconosciute, come l'imperatrice Irene o Lakshmibai.
Ad ognuna di queste donne sono dedicate due pagine, decorate con splendide illustrazioni delle sovrane, cartine geografiche, stemmi e corone.
Per ognuna di esse sono indicati i dati essenziali (date di nascita e morte, consorti, figli, paese d'appartenenza), e le imprese e conquiste più importanti, non nascondendo crudeltà e scelte poco sagge.

Il tutto, con un linguaggio ed uno stile semplice adatto ai lettori più piccoli, ma dal contenuto tale da interessare anche gli adulti.
Ho apprezzato il fatto che sul retro l'autrice inviti i lettori a fare ulteriori ricerche sulle sovrane che hanno maggiormente destato la curiosità, inviti a scoprirne altre - come Maria Antonietta, "regina" della cover ma non presente all'interno - e lasci dei link da consultare.

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Sovrane descritte nel testo:
- Hapshepsut
- Boudica
- Zenobia
- Wu Zeitan
- Irene
- Matilda
- Isabella di Castiglia
- Elisabetta I
- Caterina II di Russia
- Luisa del Mecklenburg
- Lakshmibai
- Vittoria
- Alexandra di Russia

Short, but cute and easy to read.
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I know it's a picture book, but it's really pretty short. Still, I like the watercolor illustrations, and I like how easy it is for younger kids to understand the content. Telling stories, obviously, is the best way to "teach" history.
I hope the author is willing to write more related books similar to this one and make it a book set, for that the concept and ideas of this book are good enough but sadly a little too short.
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Overall: 4.8/5
Cover: 5/5 (The reason I requested this book!)
Content: 5/5
Length: 3.5/5
Appealing: 5/5
Writing: 5/5 (easy to understand)

Who were the great queens of the past? What did they accomplish? In this brief compilation, young readers are introduced to the women who ruled.

Each queen presented is given a brief history of how they gained their crown, and what they accomplished with the power that came with being a ruler. While I would have enjoyed a few more details, as there were several I had never come across before, the information given is for younger readers: enough to peek curiosity and send them to more detailed books to learn more.

Meant for classroom and library shelves, this is a little gem educators would do well to have on hand.

“You don’t necessarily need a crown (but they sure are pretty).”
Mostly matter-of-fact with a few instances of trying to be funny. They read like a basic Wikipedia entry dumbed down for kids, which is fine, considering who the target audience is. Hatshepsut goes first (although it’s spelled “Hapshepsut” here) so it seems it’s going to be in chronological order. Boudica is another fave, but then I do love redheads. Lakshmibai was the most intriguing of those I didn’t know; not sure why the inclusion of Gandhi was there, as no other entry had a man sharing the splotlight.
Interesting tidbit: It was Victoria who started the white wedding dress trend, no surprise if you think about it. But too bad Queens Christina and Wilhemina, as listed at the end, didn’t make the cut, and it’s certainly a huge surprise Cleopatra wasn’t included.
The drawings are beautiful, and not an inch is wasted. It does make the script look small, though.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

This is a really cute, beautiful illustrated children's book about some of the fascinating and influential female leaders of history. The text tends to focus in on the highlights of each queen or empress, not getting too caught up in dates which is good, though I do still wonder if it might be a little advanced for some kids. I would say the target ages are probably more in the 9-11 range-- and even then it would probably best be read along with a parent who can help explain some concepts and give a fuller picture of these historical figures. Still, I imagine it would be a fun conversation starter and a good book for families to read together!

I did not expect to love this one so much, but I really loved it.
I loved the illustrations, I loved the content - who does not love princesses and queens and really want to become one?

This was so interesting! I'm not sure why it's a children's book. Adults would understand it better.

This is a good educational read about notable women (or 'queens') through history. Aesthetically, the pages are packed full of information, with illustrations of the women. However, there is one too many font faces used at once which is a little difficult on the eyes and looks messy, and due to the amount of text packed onto the pages it is a little overwhelming. The content is highly information though and a good accompaniment to school history lessons, presented in a fun way.

This is a pretty little book that looks at some well-known and some unknown queens. The illustrations are cute and I like that importance is placed on what children will learn from each story.

What an interesting, book for children - girls and boys - highlighting several female rulers throughout history! It is beautifully illustrated and has a clean an interesting layout.