Despite being quite short, I found myself very engaged in this story. The colourful art style and accessible writing style made this really easy to absorb. I originally wanted to read this because I adore myth and mythology and this portrayed a legend that did not disappoint.
This book was also great in that it is a positive representation of a young, powerful black woman. It is also great in that it shows a wealthy and prosperous African city, which is so often wrongly seen as an entire continent in poverty in western media.
I would say this is aimed towards older children/younger teens, but if they have a strong enough reading ability it can be enjoyed by children of all ages - adults too.

This is an interesting take of the story of the Queen of Sheba. I believe that this would be the perfect graphic novel for tweens that were interested in African history but love graphic novels. Additionally, you can see how talented the author is not only in their writing but also in their illustrations. The illustrations looked so vivid and real and more like a picture than a "drawing". The one down side that I would say for this graphic novel is the amount of words on the page. (That is main reason why I'd recommend this book for a tween and not consider it a children's graphic novel.) Typically for me I have to prepare myself to read these types of graphic novels because I find I have to take more time to not only read but pay attention to the graphics as well. Overall though, I would recommend this graphic novel to anyone who was interested in reading it and I'm interested in reading the other graphic novels the author has published in this series.

I just reviewed Makeda: The Queen of Sheba by Marlon McKenney. #WeNeedDiverseBooks #NetGalley

Tonight, I sat down with my daughter on my lap and read her this book. I love reading her books with diverse characters and positive representations of female leadership and power, this book fit the criteria perfectly. Makeda is a well rounded character that experiences both failure and success throughout the story, and, while the story is brief, the audience is given opportunity to see her grow.

The book is not only an entertaining story, but also creates opportunity for conversation, particularly in identifying where young readers exhibit "Makeda's Nine Laws of Leadership" or using the map at the beginning to get a better understanding of global geography (I am a high school teacher in Australia and I am constantly shocked that my students think Africa is one country and not a continent).

The illustrations in this book were fantastic, the characters were incredibly expressive and their joy, shock, pain, joy and sadness were evident in great detail.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and my daughter and I will certainly be revisiting Makeda and Sheba in story times to come.

#WeNeedDiverseBooks #NetGalley

An illustrated storybook, Makeda: The Queen of Sheba is a powerful novel that promotes women empowerment. I love how straightforward the plot was and I loved the lessons that you could pick out from the book. Little girls reading this novel will be inspired by Makeda's courage and intelligence and if they ever want to emulate her qualities, Makeda's 9 laws of leadership will serve as their guide ;)

Overall, this is a great book that empowers young girls to be strong women leaders!

Makeda:The Queen of Sheba is historical fiction at it's best written as a graphic novel. It should be required reading for black girls in need of seeing brave young girls that look like them. I loved reading the story of Makeda who is a brave woman and did all she could to protect her kingdom. The illustrations in the book were wonderfully done and the plot was executed well.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher thus all opinions expressed are entirely my own

Based on African folklore, we are following the fabled Queen of Sheba from childhood till her rise as the famous queen.
The story is great, well written with many wonderful moral tales and inspiring events for young girls to look up to. My only critique- I wish that the story was a bit longer.
Other than that, I didn’t really enjoy the illustrations. It felt very much like a cheaply animated video game.
If the illustrations were of a different style I would’ve enjoyed the story more, thus giving it a higher rating.

3 stars.
It's still such a great story of a real strong Black woman who became a Queen and legend in her own right. It's such a great tale for young black girls and boys!

***ARC Provided by Conscious Culture Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There are many stories about the Queen of Sheba and her relationship with King Solomon. I was expecting a retelling from that standpoint, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a retelling about the young life of Makeda and how she became queen. It was amazing to give young girls (and women like me) a glimpse into her young life, her relationship with her parents, and how she won the hearts and minds of her people. I really enjoyed to blending of mythology and history that was used to create this story. It was fast paced and had a lot of 'Black Girl Power'! Add to that the stunning and realistic illustrations, it really added to the story and led to my first 5-star rating for the year.

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Makeda: The Queen of Sheba by Marlon McKenney (Author and Illustrator) follows Princess Makeda, an Ethiopian princess who, following the death of her father, must use her courage and strength against a dangerous enemy who wants to destroy the Kingdom of Sheba. This beautifully written graphic novel (with some epic anime like illustrations) may have been designed for grade schoolers but will appeal to and delight all graphic novel readers. The message of personal strength and determination is wonderful but it’s the artwork that really sets this book apart from the crowd.

The message within the pages was good and quite inspiring for everyone, above all for young women. By the way, I found the plot too simple and too little in-depth. It was a pity becauseto me it deserved more.

A wonderous story about a princess learning to be a queen. Not only does she make mistakes, but she learns from these mistakes and shows the readers to never give up. A powerful and telling tale for all ages.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. I like the art style, along with the charters and storyline. A simple but inspiring and powerful story about The Queen of Sheba. A story all kids should read. A quick read, with an important story rooted in history and religion.

Despite loving stories of powerful women throughout history, the writing style in this one just wasn't for me. I'm not very knowledgeable about Christian mythology but I do genuinely believe that the Queen of Sheba in the bible was based off of a real woman. Though there were some obviously fictionalized aspects to this story, I think it managed to convey how powerful a woman Makeda was despite the way the bible tends to depict women.

I requested this book because the art style drew me in. The artwork is a beautiful kind of art that can easily be visualized as an animated movie that would be truly stunning.
The story is also amazing! It is a children's story so it is a shorter story, but I could have read several more pages of it.
Makeda is a wonderful protagonist with flaws and everything. Her parents have their flaws and strengths in their own way. And the little flavoring of political intrigue is fun as well.
If you want to get kids into reading or introduce them to new stories, this is a wonderful story to do that with.
The authors notes are absolutely heartwarming as they talk about why they wanted to tell this story for their children.

Great little graphic novel/ children's book. Author and illustrator Marlon McKenney has given us a beautiful book about a princess and her journey to become Queen of Sheba. The story is great but the art is absolutely stunning throughout. It definitely reminded me of some of my favorite video game scenery. Would recommend this one for the art alone even if there were no words.

My thanks to NetGalley, Conscious Culture Publishing and Maron McKenney.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for allowing me to view this book. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is good.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Makeda: The Queen of Sheba is a stunningly illustrated children's picture book about how Makeda became the Queen of Sheba.
This story is based on folklaw and this is the main story of how this brave girl became a Queen by avenging her fathers death.
The illustrations are superb and very lifelike. Although only a short story, it's one full of inspiration, courage, bravery and justice. I loved Makedas strength, resilience and honour and found the story enjoyable. Well worth a read for anyone at any age!

I was excited to read this book because I thought the cover was amazing and it was about a historical figure that hasn't received enough coverage. The story itself was OK but felt a bit stilted but this could've been the effect of the artwork. The artwork inside consisted of a lot of copying and pasting faces/facial expressions or an entire person, in duplicate on the same page no less. Children WILL notice this. I found the picture-within-a-picture content redundant and distracting. I think the thing I liked the least was the message that was sent when Makeda, the heroine, was put in the least skimpy outfit in the whole book as her fighting gear. I thought we were past putting women and girls in skimpy outfits for the benefit of the male gaze. I think the story of Makeda is a worthwhile tale to tell so I really wanted to like this more than I did.

A lovely story with really interesting 3D animation! The story of Makeda was very well done. The writing was a bit simplistic but it worked very well for a diverse children's book.

This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Princess Makeda who was born into a loving royal family but when her father, King Agabos, unexpectedly dies, the lives of Makeda and her mother, Queen Ismenie, are turned upside-down.

From the rich illustrations to the story of grief, confidence, faltering and triumph this book is a great representation of the rich African diaspora that should be shared with all children. McKenney goes further into the story to lay the framework of Makeda's 9 Lays of Leadership which allows readers to see that leadership is not always about brute strength but respect, taking responsibility and other worth attributes.

I highly recommend this book for those guiding children grades elementary to middle school and beyond.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced electronic copy of this fabulous book. Beautifully written and gorgeously illustrated, this is a powerful historical fiction with a positively depicted black female hero. This story of courage and redemption is a great read for any historical fiction fan.