Book of the Week
'Joan of Arc'
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"Joan of Arc"
By Kathleen Kudlinski
(Ages 9-12)
The life of Joan of Arc, an uneducated French girl who led her nation's army to victory over the English in the 1400s and restored the French monarchy, has inspired countless generations.
And no wonder. It's an amazing story -- right up until, at age 19, she was burned to death for defying the teachings of the Catholic Church. (Years later, the trial was declared to have been unfair, and she was cleared of all charges.)
How Joan went from simple maiden to courageous military leader and kingmaker, and from an enemy of the church to martyrdom and eventual sainthood, is a lot to pack into one trim book. But Kathleen Kudlinski, author of more than 30 children's books, and DK Publishing pull it off nicely.
Every page is filled with colorful adventure and art. Medieval paintings and tapestries (it's interesting to see how differently Joan is pictured by the various artists) share space with current photos of places she lived or visited. Captions and text boxes explain terms -- anointing and chivalry, for example -- that might not be familiar to 21st-century readers.
In its final pages, the book is brought into the present time with a story about New Orleans, Louisiana, a city named for the town in France where Joan of Arc achieved a major military victory in 1429. Kudlinski notes that after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, many residents were heard to ask if the city's statue of Saint Joan, a 1958 gift from the people of France, had survived. It had.
-- Marylou Tousignant
