This book is absolutely beautiful and I will be buying it in hardcover form for some gifts. The artwork is gorgeous, rich and colorful, but even the pages without illustrations have lovely designs on the edges.

And then you add the wonderment of such a strong female character from the 15th century and it is a perfect historical less on for kids. Brave with Beauty tells the story of Goharshad, an Afghani woman who grew up to become a queen. She was the wife Sharukh who was the ruler of the Timurid empire. She was instrumental in the construction of many important buildings, some of which stand today. And she is responsible for the elevation of Persian language and culture within the empire. After the death of her husband, Goharshad helped push her grandson to the throne. For ten years she was the de facto ruler.

Goharshad is an interesting character, and a woman that I knew nothing about before reading this book and then going to Google to learn more detail. In the book she is portrayed as very modern despite living in a patriarchal society. From what I learned she is still highly respected today.

One trigger warning. The book, and Goharshad, has a devastatingly sad ending. Her death is only touched upon, which makes sense in a children's picture book, but the book does tell about the destruction of her legacy and this is quite in depth. Some children may struggle with this ending to the story.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Yali Publishing LLC for providing a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the opportunity to review such a beautiful ARC, in exchange for an honest review. This book is one of those, "Is it art or is it a book?" a beautiful and heartbreaking story. I hope that it inspires a young girl to take on the challenge of restoring that area to it's former glory or at the very least, encourage more books to be written about such an amazing Queen. This reminds us that leadership requires not only strength but grace, mercy, patience, and most of all, the beauty in all things. I hope that perhaps Schur will be encouraged to write more about her, for older crowds, there is more story waiting to be told here! Excellent book, supreme artistry.

This book was unique simply in the sense that it focused on a forward thinking woman of the 15th century which in a part of the world that still struggles with the rights of women. I was completely and totally enthralled by her story and how different she was from what our expectations of women may have been during this specific time in history. While the art style was not my favorite, I did think that the book was beautifully constructed. Due to my interest in the nature of the book, I decided to do some additional research on Goharshad and found that she was actually executed. The book didn’t accurately discuss her death and I believe it was because of the target audience. However, there are a lot of picture books that discuss death in a tactful ways and I think it would have been a great way to provide context and conversation. Overall this will be a powerful book for young girls and I look forward to seeing what other people thought of it.

Brave with Beauty by Maxine Rose Schur is the illustrated story of Queen Goharshad, the 15th-century Queen of the Timurid Empire in current-day Afghanistan. She was an incredible patron of the arts, turning her capital city of Harat into the jewel of Asia with the creations she co-designed and funded, her reign one of peace and tranquility, in sharp contrast with what Afghanistan is and is seen as now.

If you asked most people in the Western world today, they would tell you countries like Afghanistan or Iran are nothing but sands full of suffering where nothing but terrorists grow. Though yes, war has taken so much from these places, they don’t know or directly ignore just how rich the history is behind them. This is why this book is so important: to let kids of the developed world know that countries like Afghanistan were beautiful. They were important. If we as humanity survive the coming decides, with any luck, they will be again.

My only complaint is that I wasn’t a huge fan of the art style, but it does fit the culture.

History meets story in a book that is beautifully-written and I would recommend for young adult audiences -- and older readers, as well. I would love to have a hard copy to share with students, as well.

Brave with Beauty by Maxine Rose Schur was such a nice read! The illustrations are stunning and the narration is clear. This book shows that even that long ago, there were women that challenged the status quo and did good things with their powers. It was informative while also being interesting enough to pull you along. This is a good book to show diversity to your children while also teaching them the realities of how situations can change.

This was a very easy, quick, and enlightening read. I had never heard of Queen Goharshad. I have never heard of this woman before so I liked reading this short bio of her. This book shows her accomplishments and how she was a patron of the arts. I also liked the illustrations. This book pays a great tribute to a forgotten queen. Hopefully, more people will know more about her story after reading this book.

A cute quick read that's perfect for kids of all ages and ethnicities who want to learn about the culture and what beauty really is.

This was absolutely beautiful in every way. I learned a lot from this story that I had never heard before, and I felt it had a really great message.

What a beautiful, beautiful little book. I am in awe. The story is wonderful, the illustrations are stunning. I have nothing negative to say about it. I'm always on the look for books that shine a light on the beautiful cultures of countries in the Middle East, because I know they all have centuries of stories and histories that deserve to be as well-known as the west, but have sadly been vastly overshadowed by war and destruction. I would happily purchase this book for any child, with hope that they too would become brave with beauty just like Queen Goharshad.

Brave With Beauty was a beautiful tale about a girl from Afghanistan named Goharshad. The tale tells the story of her and her brothers, and her new life as a queen.
This picture book introduces children to a culture that may be different from theirs. As a teacher, I love introducing my students to characters that are not the typical white male.
Brave With Beauty has beautiful illustrations, that has intricate details in the pictures and lovely storytelling through the images as well. The story is capturing and engaging, and a beautiful story for children of all ages.

C'era una volta, molto tempo fa, in un Paese lontano lontano, una regina che amava la bellezza.

Era intelligente e potente, e voleva lasciare un mondo migliore, più ricco in cultura e abbondanza.

Questa regina si chiamava Goharshad, e regnò nell'Afghanistan del XV secolo: sette secoli fa una donna rivoluzionò il suo Paese - e questa è la sua storia, riccamente illustrata e accompagnata da testi leggeri e pieni di poesia.

Ma non tutte le fiabe hanno un lieto fine, soprattutto quando non sono storie ma Storia: morta (giustiziata) la regina che amava il Bello, la sua eredità venne inghiottita dal tempo e dalla miopia feroce degli uomini.

Una vita che va raccontata, e che mi ha permesso di scoprire una figura storica che ignoravo completamente, e che può davvero essere luminoso esempio ancora oggi - e non solo nel suo Paese d'origine.

Brave with Beauty contains lovely images, and the story is wonderfully written. My only resignation is that the author detailed the age of the queen when she was married; I think its omission would not be noticed. It could make parents squeamish. The tale overall is something that we need in this genre of children's books, strong, diverse female characters. I wish we had more of these available when I was a kid. Maxine Rose Schur did a great job with this book.

Such a fabulous book! I love the title, the illustrations, and the text. This book is very well done!

The story and text are reminiscent of De Paola's Legend of the Bluebonnet, in that both have a longer story and both have a foreign, yet familiar feel. It is a historical story in a very different place and culture than where I live, yet the experiences and desires of Goharshad, both as a child and as an adult, are familiar to anyone, any age.

The illustrations are beautiful, and fit the story perfectly. Some of the illustrations are exquisite. Sometimes the illustrations are smaller on the page than I would like, but they are still beautiful, and the book does have full-page illustrations, too.

The book has a slow pace (which also reminded me of De Paola's Bluebonnet, etc.), but it fits the book well. This is a longer picture book, and great for an adult and child to read together. (It's not a simple picture books with just 1-2 sentences per page.) At the end there is a glossary with pronunciations, and an author's note with additional history and recommended books. The ending is bittersweet, as it touches on Goharshad's eventual death, and the destruction of her beautiful buildings and gardens over the centuries. It is sad, but also real. There is still some hope, and the appreciation of the beauty that she brought her people for as long as it lasted.

This book would be an excellent addition to any family or library picture book biography collection. It's a beautiful introduction to this strong, caring woman, and a brief introduction to her culture. I wish I knew about her and her determination to be "brave with beauty" when I was growing up. Highly recommended!

I just reviewed Brave with Beauty by Maxine Rose Schur. #BraveWithBeauty #NetGalley

LOVE THIS BOOK! It's rare to have Middle Eastern stories, or folklore - history one like this, available. Beautifully illustrated, this book is a perfect gift for kids and adults alike.

It tells the story of a young woman who was bullied by her brothers, but didn't give up. Once married into power, she use it wisely to develop her adopted country, and give access to women as well as men.

This is really encouraging for me, as a woman, in a modern but still not always accessible to women.

The is a gorgeously illustrated book about a woman that most of us wouldn't have heard of, Queen Goharshad.

This lovely books shows how she influenced the arts, and the building of grand mosques. It is a little like the opening of the poem, Kubla Khan:
<blockquote>
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
<blockquote>

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/brave-with-beauty.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5319" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/brave-with-beauty2.png" alt="" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5318" />

And sadly, much like the poem, Ozymandias, the only thing that remains of all the beauty she built, is her tomb.

This is a great introduction to a time, and place that most English speaking children would be unfamiliar with, and so this is a good book to have to show them what was done in the past by a strong woman who loved the arts.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

How many picture books are there about 15th-century women? Not many, I'd imagine. Even rarer are books about women from this particular part of the world. Brave with Beauty tells the story of Goharshad, who grew up to become a queen and a patron of the arts.

The narrative is fairly strong here, painting the character of Goharshad with lovely words. There are a few punctuation typos, but nothing too glaring. The pictures are good, for the most part (although there are some small perspective issues that don't look quite right); they've lively and colourful and really create the historical setting.

Goharshad is an interesting character, and not what one might expect from a woman of this time period. She comes across as very forward-thinking, and even though she lived in a patriarchal society, she was still highly respected.

The ending of the book is terribly sad, showing the almost apocalyptic destruction of Goharshad's legacy. Given this, it's odd that her manner of death (she was executed) is glossed over. The book makes it seem like she simply died of old age. While the decision to leave out her manner of death may have been because of the target audience, it doesn't make a lot of sense when the rest of the ending is so depressing; disclosing the true manner of her demise could've provided some interesting jumping-off points for discussions about women's roles in the past, especially when it came to ruling kingdoms and empires.

Overall, though, this is an appealing picture book about a strong woman. I'd like to see more books in this vein, showing today's girls that, even in times when women had even fewer options than they do now, they could still make their mark on the world.

There are so many people in history, more importantly women in history, whose names and stories are never taught to us and it's nothing less but a shame. I'm nearly 30 and until this day never knew about the brilliant artwork and charity of Queen Goharshad and it's sad.

This is a delightful children's books which teaches and acknowledges the art and charity of a Queen who under her reign and influence supported the arts and was instrumental in many profound buildings such as Herat's Mousallah Complex. This was a simple yet beautiful book and the illustrations are breathtaking. The pacing is perfect and it has a beautiful message all throughout the story which is especially important for little girls.

It's never too soon to begin teaching kids about history from all corners of the world and this book is a perfect example of that.