Tag Marcia Williams

Kings & Queens

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Kings & Queens
Marcia Williams
Walker Books

Essentially this is a whistle-stop tour of monarchs, sixty in all, starting with Alfred the Great and going all the way through to our present King Charles 111, presented in Marcia Williams’ trademark comic strip style, with speech bubbles and a wealth of humorous details in both the text (that includes a commentary by royal raven Caw) and illustrations that KS2 readers will really enjoy.

King Caw takes us on a journey along the timeline from 871 BCE to today. Along the way, we learn the dates of each monarch’s reign and any number of quirky facts about them, often relating to their untimely demises.

For instance we read this of William the Conqueror (1066-87) – a thoroughly unpleasant man so we are told: ‘ … he was mortally injured. The wound caused an infection which killed him weeks later. When he came to be buried in France, his coffin was too small and his body exploded.”

This about George 11 (1727-60) made me laugh so much I choked on my coffee: ‘He died on the lavatory after drinking hot chocolate.’

Seemingly the toilet was a dangerous place for royalty: King John (1199-1216) also died on the loo, perhaps due to over consumption of peaches.

A book likely to turn primary age children into history lovers.

Greek Heroes: Top Ten Myths and Legends

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Greek Heroes: Top Ten Myths and Legends
Marcia Williams
Walker Books

Well-known for her adaptations of classic tales into comic strip format for younger readers, Marcia Williams has chosen ten heroes almost all of whom are male to present in this collection and all having the requisite characteristics – strength, looks, charm and brains. Marcia lists ten heroic essentials on the opening spread then goes on to introduce the gods of Olympus, they who hold in their hands the fate of every would-be hero, most importantly those we meet in this book.

I love the way a cheeky Pan puts down his musical pipes and moves around the beautiful borders augmenting Marcia’s comic strips with his interjections, as readers meet first Perseus, slayer of the gorgon Medusa; Bellerophon destroyer of the Chimera, who loses his winged horse Pegasus in so-doing, and then Atlanta – she who uses her spear to kill a monstrous boar.

The remaining encounters are with Jason, Achilles – he of the vulnerable heel; daring Heracles who spent ten years undertaking the ten labours set by King Eurystheus; Theseus, the stunningly beautiful Psyche, tragic lovers Orpheus and Eurydice and finally, Odysseus of Trojan horse fame who blinds the Cyclops, resists the song of the Sirens is captured and kept for seven years by a nymph, Calypso and finally returns home to his wife Penelope who has trouble recognising him after so long apart.

This is enormous fun for individual readers and a terrific primary classroom resource.

Three Cheers For Women!

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Three Cheers for Women!
Marcia Williams
Walker Books

Richly detailed, funny illustrations and accompanying information on seventy remarkable women from all over the world is presented in comic strip format in Marcia Williams’ (Dot) signature style.

The amazing achievements of these women are diverse and presented, with their stories, chronologically. We start in ancient times with Cleopatra V11 Queen of Egypt and warrior queen Boudicca, ending with the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, children’s and women’s rights activist.

Along the way we are introduced to among others, Mary Wollstonecraft (radical feminist and writer),

Marie Curie, human rights activist Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart,

artist Frida Kahlo,

environmentalist and peace activist Wangari Maathai, Mae C. Jemison the first African-American woman in space, and Olympic athlete Cathy Freeman.

Look out for the wonderful tiny animal and bird characters that drift around the margins of the spreads along with narrator Dot and her friend Abe, adding to the fun and biographical information given in the main frames – love that narrative device.

There are also three final spreads – ‘Leaders and World-Changers’, ‘Sportswomen & Creatives’, and ‘Scientists, Pioneers & Adventurers’, containing paragraphs on around sixty other amazing women.

Memorable, inspirational, accessible and enormously enjoyable.
Children reading this, in addition to celebrating these awesome women, will surely come to know that where world changing achievements are concerned, there are, if you have a passion and self-belief, and think beyond the limits, no holds barred.