Cleopatra

Cleopatra by Diane Stanley was a very interesting and informational book. This book tells us the story of Cleopatra, Egypt’s last Queen. She married Julius Cesar and Mark Anthony. This book has amazing pictures and quite humorous short stories with in it. I would probably use this book when

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teaching a lesson on Cleopatra, but it was very difficult for me to read through this entire book, I felt the information was less exciting as her two previous books I read. The website I attached has a lesson plan to teach societal rankings. This was a big deal in Cleopatra because they had servants, slaves, and peasant people.

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The text in this story is a bit hard to read, as it is printed on a mosaic-tiled background. Cleopatra naturally tells the history of Cleopatra VII—her rise and fall in Egypt, as well as her love affairs with Caesar and Antony. The text is accompanied with gorgeous, life-like illustrations. This

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would be appropriate for an older reader, either an advanced elementary reader or a middle-school reader.

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I liked the pictures that were in this book. It went well with the writing.

While the pictures were bright and engaging, the story did not always feel that way. It was very lengthy and boring at times. The information was good, though.

Personally, I think the story of Cleopatra is very interesting, I question whether the intended audience of this book would agree. The pictures in this text are visually appealing and may capture a reader's interest in a way that may distract from the actual text. The language is appropriate for

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middle school students, however at times it seems rather lengthy. Author Diane Stanley seems to spend extra pages discussing the Cleopatra-Ceasar-Antony saga and I would imagine this may help engage in a certain type of reader. Ultimately, portions of this text could be used to supplement history lessons, however, I cannot imagine using the text in its entirety.

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Cleopatra was not even Egyptian, how many people know that? She was just lucky enough to be born into a family that descended from Alexander the Great and was considered royalty. She fell into her throne. However, obviously as she got older, many people did not like her. This is evident because all

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of the texts that were left or saved were written from her enemies. This book was interesting because it did not have an opinion of Cleopatra. This text simply states the facts that the saved ancient texts mentioned that she took part in. Cleopatra was a woman who took the time to educate herself so she could get what she wanted. She got involved with powerful men who were intrigued with her because of her intelligence because I cannot just believe beauty is what kept these guys around. Learn about Cleopatra's life and adventures that she endured to get what she wanted; however, trying to obtain everything that she wanted is what ultimately sealed her fate.

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A biography about the life of the famous Egyptian queen. This would be a good book to accompany a lesson on early Egypt or famous people in history.

"Cleopatra" opens with a preface and note. The note tells us that everything we currently have written on Cleopatra was written by her enemies, so she always comes out looking somewhat negative. I would say the same for this book. Although she is a powerful woman, she always seems to be looking out

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for herself. The book discusses her ruling of Alexandria and her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. The book is beautifully illustrated and includes a drawing of a map from ancient times to help the reader follow what places the author is discussing.

This book could be used to teach Egyptian history.

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The nonfiction, picture book entitled Cleopatra written by Diane Stanley and Peter Vennema, as well as illustrated by Diane Stanley is a quality written book containing 46 pages of interesting information with beautiful drawings that help the reader to better grasp the events in the life of this

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fascinating Egyptian queen. After reading the book, it is my opinion that it was written for readers between the ages of 10-15 because many of the pages have several paragraphs of historical information to absorb and the book is rather long for a picture book.

Cleopatra contains much of the criteria for evaluating nonfiction, is well written, and offers elaborate, colorful pictures done in the style of mosaic tiles which was a common style of art in the era in which this powerful woman lived. The pictures are a wonderful partnership with the text as they help the reader to visualize and understand the occurrences being discussed. This book is very enlightening, offering information that most readers might never have known about this Egyptian queen. For example, Cleopatra was not Egyptian at all, but was actually Macedonian Greek, the last of the Ptolemies who were a royal line descended from a general of Alexander the Great.

In summary, the book begins by telling the reader how Cleopatra VII came into power, how she was driven from Egypt by her younger brother/husband Ptolemy XIII, and how she regained power over Egypt with the help of Caesar and Mark Antony, only to lose it once again and die in defeat. It further explains how clever and charming she was in her efforts to regain control of Egypt by being smuggled back into the palace in a rug which was unrolled before Caesar to reveal the queen. Caesar was there to bring peace between Cleopatra and her brother, instead he and the Egyptian queen began a great love affair. After having a son together who was named Caesarion, Cleopatra joined Caesar in Rome, but he was soon assassinated by members of the senate and the Egyptian queen quickly returned to Egypt. The author then explains how three men came into power over the Roman Empire; Octavian, Caesar's grandnephew who ruled the western provinces, Mark Antony ruled the eastern provinces, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus had control of Africa. On his journey to his eastern provinces and through a series of events, Mark Antony met Cleopatra and fell in lover with her. Together, they made a powerful team with her wealth and his political connections. They married, had three children, and positioned themselves to take control of much of the known world. When Mark Antony entered into a political marriage with Octavian's sister only to divorce her later, Octavian declared war on Cleopatra. In the end, when faced with a battle at sea, Cleopatra fled with her wealth back to Egypt, and Mark Antony, abandoning his naval troops, followed after her. When Octavian closed in on Egypt, Mark Antony attempted suicide by falling on his own sword and experienced a long and painful death, while Cleopatra was captured by Octavian's men in the tomb she prepared for herself. After studying about various poisons, she chose one that she could use to kill herself, but one that would not cause an agonizing death. In her room where she was held captive, she had a wonderful meal with a couple of trusted servants, sent for a a basket of figs, and had a sealed letter delivered to Octavian asking that she be buried with Mark Antony. Alarmed, the Roman ruler had his men rush to Cleopatra's room where they found her and her servants dead. The cause of death was believed to have been the poison from the deadly asp snake which could have been smuggled in the basket of figs.

In terms of accuracy, the authors' qualifications are presented on both the front and back covers of the book which reveal that the they are award-winning biographers who have written and illustrated several other notable picture book biographies, such as Shanka, King of the Zulus, Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, and Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great Expectations. The information presented in Cleopatra also appears to be factual due to well-known evidence already confirmed by scholars, as well as the fact that the authors traveled to Egypt to conduct their research.

It is impossible for the authors to cover every detail of Cleopatra's life, but many of the significant events are discussed in a clear style that is organized and worded in language that most adolescent readers can understand. Background information about Cleopatra's life is also given in an effort to help young readers better grasp the information presented. Precise wording is used in terms of geography, military maneuvers, and Latin names which can be challenging for readers to decipher, but for the latter, a pronunciation Guide is offered at the back of the book to help with comprehension. The story of the Egyptian queen's life is told in chronological order in a narrative point of view with language ranging from simple to more complex, as well as familiar to unfamiliar. The authors also display some emotion when discussing the events of the story, especially when describing the decision Mark Antony must make when faced with fighting Octavian at sea or on land. Overall, the authors' tone is primarily one that is conversational, as if the information is being discussed among friends.

Although this book does not provide reference aids, such as an index or glossary, it does have a Preface giving background information on Cleopatra's family, Egypt's wealth, and the conditions of the world around this civilization. A Note on Ancient Sources that describes the queen's biography, most of which come from Plutarch, a Greek historian is also provided. An Epilogue gives information about what happened to Egypt and Cleopatra's children after her death and the Pronunciation Guide that was mentioned previously which demonstrates how to pronounce unfamiliar Latin words are also provided to help readers' comprehension of the information presented.

The illustrations are impeccable and focus on the queen, some of the significant people and events in her life, as well as revealing her grand lifestyle. Two maps, one of the Roman Empire's provinces and the other of the naval battle between Octavian and Mark Antony are also included in the book which helps the reader to better visualize both the power of the Roman Empire and the difficult task Mark Antony and Cleopatra were up against when faced with fighting Octavian at sea.

In terms of accessing more features of the book, the cover does lend itself to further scrutiny when one sees it because of the beautiful mosaic illustration of Cleopatra who looks more like a Greek than an Egyptian. The potential reader may want to know why the famous Egyptian queen looks more like a Roman citizen. The back cover also shows ancient coins with Cleopatra's image on them, making the potential reader perhaps want to see more detailed visual portrayals of the queen. One last feature that this book includes is a thorough bibliography which assists readers to conduct further research on Cleopatra. It also solidifies the validity of the primary resources that were used to write the book. The authors also list other recommended books for those who are interested in further research on this ancient, renown, female ruler.

As a future middle school English teacher, I would use this book to not only explore the biography of this fascinating Egyptian queen, I would like my students to be exposed to new words, such as the Latin words found in the Pronunciation Guide. This book could also be studied among small groups who together write a persuasive essays on if Cleopatra was a good leader or not with supporting evidence for their opinions; could do biographical sketches of Cleopatra and present them to the class; or write plays and perform them in full costume for the class. So much could be done in the area of English Language Arts and History with this book because of the richness reflected in its writing, illustrations, and historical information. Because of these facts, I would highly recommend reading this book.

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This was a very informative book. I really enjoyed reading about Cleopatra. Prior to reading this book I had no real backgroud knowledge of Cleopatra. I learned alot from reading this book. It is very lengthy however, so I don't think it would hold the younger students' attentions. The

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illustrations weren't as colorful as I was hoping. Some of the words could be hard for some students to pronounce. If I were a teacher I would read this to a fith grade class.

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This book was very informative and made me more knowledgeable on Cleopatra. The book should probably be read to higher grades. Students might lose interest because it is more educational and lengthy. This book might be good to read when talking about Egypt.

I would utilize this book in a fourth, fifth, or sixth grade classroom because of the higher reading level of this particular text. Students could use this book to write about misconceptions about various people in history because the book mentions that most stories about Cleopatra are written by

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her enemies, whereas this text does not choose sides, or at least attempts not to. Every biography is somewhat biased since it is an outside source writing about a certain subject. Students can utilize the timelines and the illustration description boxes in research and as facts from the text about Cleopatra. If a teacher was doing a lesson on Egypt and/or pharaohs and the pyramids, this text could be utilized. Students could utilize the maps provided throughout the text to view where people lived and where certain events occurerd, such as the murder of her husband/brother.

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