Shaka, King of Zulus
Diane Stanley. HarperCollins, $7.99 (40pp) ISBN 978-0-688-13114-2
Dignified, detailed artwork is a befittingly regal accompaniment to this engrossing biography. Ages 5-up. (Feb.)
Details
Reviewed on: 01/31/1994
Genre: Children's
- Amazon
- Apple Books
- Barnes & Noble
- Bookshop
- Share
- Tweet
- Copy Link
More By and About this Authorchevron_right
- THE MYSTERIOUS MATTER OF I.M. FINEDiane StanleyStanley reveals yet another dimension of her talents in her second novel (after A Time Apart), here serving up a witty story that manages to be both light and Continue reading »
- ROUGHING IT ON THE OREGON TRAILDiane StanleyThis debut in the Time Traveling Twins series finds the duo on the Oregon Trail in 1843. "Stanley serves up a lively blend of fact and fiction, shoehorning in information on everything from Continue reading »
- SAVING SWEETNESSDiane StanleyPW called this tale of a girl named Sweetness, who runs away from her orphanage and finds Western-style adventure, "sweet and worth saving." Ages 4-8. Continue reading »
- JOAN OF ARCDiane Stanley"Appealing to the audience's intelligence and imagination, this book stimulates an interest in both its particular subject, Joan of Arc, and history in general," said
Continue reading » - RUMPELSTILTSKIN'S DAUGHTERDiane StanleyThis miller's daughter can't imagine why anyone would want to marry the money-loving king, and proposes marriage to the short little man who has saved her life. In a starred review, Continue reading »
- SALADIN: Noble Prince of IslamDiane StanleyMeeting the high standards set by her previous picture-book biographies, Stanley (Michelangelo; Joan of Arc) here focuses on Continue reading »
- RAISING SWEETNESSDiane StanleyIn what PW called "an equally charming sequel," an unmarried sheriff labors to be a good parent to little Sweetness and her seven fellow orphan Continue reading »
- MICHELANGELODiane StanleyIn a panoramic telling of Michelangelo's life story, the author "brings to bear an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, scrupulous attention to Continue reading »
- GOLDIE AND THE THREE BEARSDiane StanleyIn Stanley's (Rumplestiltskin's Daughter) witty re-creation of a familiar tale, she characterizes Goldilocks as a wide-eyed, golden-haired heroine who Continue reading »
- THE GIANT AND THE BEANSTALKDiane StanleyStanley (Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter ) once again cleverly contorts a familiar tale, here focusing not on Jack but on the giant from whom he purloins a Continue reading »
- THANKSGIVING ON PLYMOUTH PLANTATIONDiane StanleyWhen the Time-Traveling Twins visit Grandma, her magic hat whisks them to Plymouth Plantation in the fall of 1621. As with the series' previous titles, the narrative moves the action forward Continue reading »
- Bella at MidnightDiane StanleyStanley (A Time Apart ) refashions Cinderella into a tale of intrigue set during the Middle Ages. The story unfolds from multiple points of view but focuses on Continue reading »
- The Trouble with WishesDiane StanleyStanley (Saladin: Noble Prince of Islam ) here focuses on Greek mythology's Pygmalion, introducing for the sculptor a female best friend, Jane, with Continue reading »
- The Mysterious Case of the Allbright AcademyDiane StanleyReassembling the cast of The Mysterious Matter of I.M. Fine , Stanley delivers another humorous and thoroughly enjoyable mystery, this time set at a Continue reading »
- Mozart: The Wonder Child: A Puppet Play in Three ActsDiane StanleyInspired by the Salzberg Marionette Theatre, Stanley (Joan of Arc ) frames this engaging and well-paced biography of Mozart as a three-act puppet play. Continue reading »
- Saving SkyDiane StanleyAgainst a backdrop of war by terrorism, with suicide bombers successfully destroying refineries and wreaking havoc with the U.S. power grid, the Brightman family battles the forces of prejudice, Continue reading »
- Rumpelstiltskin's DaughterDiane StanleyStanley blazes a new path for herself in this effervescent revisionist fairy tale, and the results are as stunning as her best picture-book biographies (Leonardo da Vinci; Bard of Avon). Here she Continue reading »
- CleopatraDiane Stanley, Peter Vennema""This peerless author/artist team makes the captivating... Cleopatra seem astoundingly real,"" said PW in a starred review. Ages 7-up. Continue reading »
- Bard of Avon: The Story of William ShakespeareDiane Stanley, Peter Vennema""These seasoned raconteurs...neatly piece together the puzzle of Shakespeare's life,"" said PW in a starred review, praising the ""stunning, intricate"" paintings. Ages 6-up. Continue reading »
- Raising Sweetness [With CD]Diane StanleyIn the amiable Saving Sweetness, Stanley and Karas introduced a clumsy and golden-hearted sheriff who adopts little Sweetness and her seven fellow orphans. In this equally charming sequel, the Continue reading »
- Leonardo Da VinciDiane StanleyIn a starred review, PW called this picture-book biography ""a virtuosic work."" Ages 7-up. (Aug.) Continue reading »
- MichelangeloDiane StanleyThere is no one like Stanley (Leonardo da Vinci; Joan of Arc) for picture-book biography--she brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, Continue reading »
- Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of EnglandDiane Stanley, Peter VennemaOnce again available from the husband-and-wife team behind Bard of Avon: The Story of William Shakespeare, here is another biography from the Elizabethan Age: Good Queen Bess: The Story of Continue reading »
- The Mysterious Matter of I. M. FineDiane StanleyFifth-grader Franny sees a connection between a sudden fad and writer I.M. Fine's latest Chillers book. ""Superior entertainment, this work should engage both ambitious readers and diehard fans Continue reading »
- A Country TaleDiane StanleyAn amazing accomplishment, Stanley's new book excels her admired Conversation Club, Birdsong Lullaby et al., in idea and execution. Dear friends Cleo and Lucy, country cats, grow apart when a Continue reading »
- Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth I of EnglandDiane StanleyThe authors of Shaka, King of the Zulus vivify another colorful character as they recount the life and times of Elizabeth I, queen of England from 1558 until her death in 1603. They portray their Continue reading »
- The Good-Luck PencilDiane StanleyMary Ann can't do anything wrongespecially after finding a good-luck pencil. She works all the math problems right and draws pictures that everyone admires. When her teacher assigns a homework Continue reading »
- The Conversation ClubDiane Stanley, Douglas StanleyWhen shy Peter Fieldmouse is invited to join his new neighborhood's Conversation Club, he is frazzled by the incessant chatter and starts his own organization--a listening club. Ages 4-7. Continue reading »
- Charles Dickens: The Man Who Had Great ExpectationsDiane StanleyAs in their previous collaborations ( Good Queen Bess ; Bard of Avon ), Stanley and Vennema bring to life another vital historical figure in their newest, spirited volume. Stanley's typically Continue reading »
- Bard of Avon: The Story of William ShakespeareDiane StanleyIn this compact, informative biography, Stanley and Vennema return to the 16th-century England they portrayed so deftly in Good Queen Bess: The Story of Elizabeth of England . These seasoned Continue reading »
- The Gentleman and the Kitchen MaidDiane StanleyStanley and Nolan lure readers with this playful puzzle. Rusty, an art student who comes to the city art museum to copy the works of Dutch masters, realizes that a kitchen maid in one painting and a Continue reading »
- CleopatraDiane Stanley, Peter VennemaThe dazzling Egyptian queen proves a fertile subject for Stanley and Vennema, who have produced notable biographies of Queen Elizabeth, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and others. Here they make Continue reading »
- Petrosinella: A Neopolitan RapunzelDiane StanleyAs the expression goes, ``Everything old is new again,'' and two publishers are taking that adage literally for a pair of May releases. In the case of James and the Rain, British artist Reg Continue reading »
- The True Adventure of Daniel HallDiane StanleyStanley bases this riveting tale on Daniel Hall's own account of the four-year journey that took him from his hometown of New Bedford, Mass., to the wilds of Siberia. In 1856, just days before his Continue reading »
- Leonardo Da VinciDiane StanleyAdding this Renaissance genius to the illustrious lineup of individuals whose lives she and Peter Vennema have chronicled, among them Cleopatra, Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare, Stanley Continue reading »
- The Gentleman and the Kitchen MaidDiane StanleyFigures from different paintings hanging in a museum fall in love; ""Stanley's supple storytelling admits a fresh, romantic grasp of the possibilities of art and imagination,"" said PW. Ages 5-8. Continue reading »
- Petrosinella: A Neopolitan RapunzelDiane StanleyStanley's retelling of this classic Italian folktale, which predates the Brothers Grimm version, comes to life with stylish paintings. Ages 4-8. Continue reading »
- Joan of ArcDiane StanleyStanley (Leonardo da Vinci) orchestrates the complexities of history into a gripping, unusually challenging story in this exemplary biography. As much a portrait of an age as of a person, her work Continue reading »
- A Time ApartDiane StanleyIn her first novel, consummate picture-book biographer Stanley (Joan of Arc) proves she is virtually as adept at creating fictional characters as she is at chronicling the lives of real people. Her Continue reading »
- Roughing It on the Oregon TrailDiane StanleyStanley (Peter the Great) launches a new historical picture book series about the Time Traveling Twins--red-haired brother and sister Lenny and Liz. Left with Grandma while their parents vacation in Continue reading »
- Joining the Boston Tea PartyDiane StanleyDiane Stanley's Time-Traveling Twins head for a second adventure in Joining the Boston Tea Party, illus. by Holly Berry. The date is 1773, and Liz, Lenny and Grandma hear Sam Adams speak and join Continue reading »
- Captain Whiz-BangDiane StanleyCaptain Whiz-Bang is not only the story of Annie's champion cat but also a wise and loving introduction to the inevitable changes that come with the passage of time. As ""winter turns to spring,'' we Continue reading »
- FortuneDiane StanleyStanley displays her versatility and talent in yet another artful and meticulously executed book. The story of Omar, a poor Persian farmer, the book contains a series of full-page intricately Continue reading »
- Moe the Dog/TropicalDiane StanleyThis blithesome tale of canine ingenuity offers midwinter warmth to those who begin thinking of island getaways even before the first snowflakes fall. While blizzard-like conditions prevail, scruffy Continue reading »
- Woe Is MoeDiane StanleyMoe the dog gave his friend Arlene a faux beach in Stanley and Primavera's infectiously upbeat Moe the Dog in Tropical Paradise; now it's Arlene's turn to surprise Moe. This time, the shaggy brown Continue reading »
- ElenaDiane StanleyAuthor and illustrator of numerous acclaimed picture-book biographies (Cleopatra; The Bard of Avon), Stanley turns her talents to preserving a more personal history, the experiences of a friend of Continue reading »
- Saving SweetnessDiane StanleyColorful idiom characterizes this witty Western adventure, narrated by an amiable but bumbling sheriff. When ""the ittiest, bittiest orphan, little Sweetness"" runs away from the local orphanage and Continue reading »
- Moe the Dog in Tropical ParadiseDiane Stanley, Elise PrimaveraMoe the mutt and his springer spaniel sidekick devise a cure for the midwinter blues. ""This happy-go-lucky narrative suggests that life can indeed be a beach,"" said PW's starred review. Ages 4-8. Continue reading »
- The True Adventure of Daniel HallDiane Stanley""This riveting tale is based on a 15-year-old's own account of the four-year journey that took him from his home in Massachusetts to Siberia in 1856. The meticulous art steeped in period detail Continue reading »
- The Silver BowlDiane StanleyA versatile and inventive raconteur, Stanley (Bella at Midnight) nimbly weaves intrigue and fantasy into this richly layered story set in medieval times. Sent to work as a scullery maid at the Continue reading »
- The Chosen PrinceDiane StanleyOn the day of Prince Alexos’s birth, the gods decree that he is destined for greatness, catalyzing a life of hardship as the prince attempts to fulfill this prophecy. An outsider among his peers, Continue reading »
- Ada Lovelace, Poet of Science: The First Computer ProgrammerDiane Stanley, Jessie HartlandStanley (Mozart: The Wonder Child) delivers a breezy but insightful overview of the curiosity and determination that drove Ada Lovelace (1815–1852) to pursue her intellectual passions, Continue reading »
- Joplin, WishingDiane StanleyStanley (The Chosen Prince) deftly infuses magic and mystery into this uplifting story about friendship and second chances. After the death of fifth-grader Joplin Danforth’s estranged Continue reading »
- Second SleepDiane StanleyWhen 12-year-old Max’s mother doesn’t come home to their New York City apartment, instead leaving a cryptic message about helping an old friend, Max’s family is thrown into disarray, suddenly missing Continue reading »
- The Borrowers: Fiftieth-Anniversary Gift EditionMary NortonFor 50 years, fans have enjoyed Mary Norton's classic story of The Borrowers, the tiny family (Pod, Homily and their daughter, Arrietty) that secretly lives under the floorboards. This new gift Continue reading »
- The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Ka'iulani of HawaiiFay StanleyBorn in 1875, Princess Ka`iulani was heir to the throne of the kingdom of Hawai`i. When she was 11, the girl's storybook childhood came to an abrupt end. Her mother fell ill, and on her deathbed Continue reading »
PW EDITORS’ PICKS FOR
THE BEST NEW BOOKS
PW EDITORS’ PICKS FOR THE BEST NEW BOOKS
Featured Children's Reviews
The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest
Aubrey Hartman
Clare, the undead fox of Deadwood Forest, is cast as a monster by the local children who gather each Halloween around the forest’s edge to chant about how he “waits to feast/ On Continue reading »
Knucklehead
Tony Keith Jr
Poet and educator Keith (How the Boogeyman Became a Poet) delivers a poignant, hip-hop-fueled collection of poetry that’s equal parts memoir, love letter, and rallying cry to Continue reading »
Little Sanctuary
Randy Boyagoda
Sixteen-year-old Sabel is puzzled by tonight’s family meal, which seems to be a special spread of her and her four siblings’ favorite foods. Sickness and savagery have toppled Continue reading »
When I Hear Spirituals
Cheryl Willis Hudson
Willis Hudson movingly exalts the power of African American spirituals in a lyrics showcase that pairs existing verses with feelings they can evoke. On the first page, a Black Continue reading »
chevron_right
