Moi and Marie Antoinette
This picture-book account of Marie Antoinette, told from the perspective of her pug dog, Sebastien, highlights Antoinette's life from age 13 through her becoming queen of France and motherhood, with glimpses of eighteenth-century court life along the way. As Sebastien tells it, the queen's life leaves Antoinette unhappy, and with little time for Sebastien. But years later, after earning the affection of Antoinette's six-year-old daughter, Therese, Sebastien reminds Antoinette that happiness can be found through love, family, and, of course, dogs. The engaging, humorously vain pug delivers an animated narrative, which is whimsically illustrated in elegant, swirly, pastel-hued pictures, lavished with historical details. The dense prose and the focus on Antoinette as a teen and adult (Therese doesn't come in until the end of the story) suggest an older audience. Even so, the message is classic, and the royal pooch makes an enticing narrator, especially accessorized with period glamour.Shelle RosenfeldCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved