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Mary Queen of Scots and her Hopeless Husbands

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BfK No. 130 - September 2001

Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from Raymond Briggs and Allan Ahlberg’s The Adventures of Bert. Raymond Briggs and Allan Ahlberg discuss their creative collaboration. Thanks to Puffin Children’s Books for their help with this September cover.

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Mary Queen of Scots and her Hopeless Husbands

Margaret Simpson
 Philip Reeve
(Hippo /Scholastic Childrens Books)
208pp, NON FICTION, 978-0439999267, RRP £5.99, Paperback
10-14 Middle/Secondary
'Dead Famous'
Buy "Mary Queen of Scots And Her Hopeless Husbands (Dead Famous)" on Amazon

Mary Queen of Scots was Queen of Scotland at 6 days old, Queen of France at 17, and a widow a year later. After two more husbands, one of whom died in spectacular and mysterious fashion, she was executed at the age of 45. She spent most of her adult life under one sort of house arrest or another, and much of the rest at the mercy of other people's ambitions. This is a shamelessly anachronistic biography, of the 'Horrible History' lineage, mixing narrative, comic strip, fake tabloid reportage, personal correspondence and 'secret diaries'. Well supported by the comic costume drama of Reeves's illustrations, it relies on humour and gore to keep its audience's attention. Simpson uses it all to great effect for 8-12 year-olds raising interesting questions about Mary's life and her place in British history. Most telling is Simpson's implicit comparison with Mary's cousin and eventual executioner Elizabeth I, another woman whose descent gave her power, but whose sex made her vulnerable.

Reviewer: 
Clive Barnes
3
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