The Raucous Royals by Carlyn Beccia
If there is one thing that I have learned from The Raucous Royals, Test Your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries and Deduce Which Royal Rumors Are True by Carlyn Beccia it is this: I’ll never remember the full title and I can not spell raucous. I have to look it up every time. But wait! That’s not all I learned. I also learned that King Henry VIII made padded puffy sleeve clothes fashionable to hid his expanding waistline, Anne Boleyn did NOT have six fingers, three breasts and moles all over her body – no matter how much you’d like to believe it – and Queen Elizabeth used puppy urine on her teeth to whiten them (not that’s an illustration you have to see!).
The Raucous Royals is a fun book that investigates whether or not rumors about famous royalty from history are true or false. It’s the type of book that you can pick up at any page to read. You don’t have to read it from cover to cover to learn something new. Kids (and adults) will love the irreverent witty humour and the equally irreverent illustrations.
The style will be sure to please reluctant readers with tabloid style articles, quizzes, speech bubbles, side text and boxes. They’ll be so busy learning about whether or not Prince Dracula was a real vampire, how to detect a real witch, and if King Louis XIV had only three baths in his lifetime that they’ll forget that they are learning about real, prominent figures from history.
And if you ask your kids to stop reading The Raucous Royals and go to bed, don’t be surprised if they answer you with “Jarring rump-fed apple-john, I shall not go to thou saucy motely-minded hedge-pig bed!” And then after you’ve figured out what they’ve said and given them a stern lecture on not talking back you’ll kiss them good night by saying, “Thou art a flowering young-eyed, wafer cake!”
The Raucous Royals is also a great example of mixing the book with it’s online companion. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the activities that can be found at The Raucous Royal’s website and it’s own blog dedicated to exploring even more rumors not found in the book.
The Raucous Royals book trailer:
The Raucous Royals is also on tour today with Kidz Book Buzz at 01 Charger, the 160acrewoods, A Mom Speaks, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, The Friendly Book Nook, The Hidden Side of a Leaf, Homeschool Buzz, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Our Big Earth, Quiverfull Family, Reading is My Superpower, SmallWorld Reads, SMS Book Reviews
So what say you? Who invented the word gossip? Any ideas?
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Category: Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Picture Books
Tags: A-D Author, blog tour, book trailers, Kidz Book Buzz, published 2008, Q-T Title, review copy, videos
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Puppy urine! I think I’d rather have stained teeth. Sounds like a fun read.
on December 1st, 2008 at 5:49 amheh heh I loved this book, too. And I have terrible teeth and a fat face (not to mention body) so as I read, I thought, “Man, I am living in the wrong place and wrong time!” There they were faking rotten teeth and fattening up their cheeks.
on December 1st, 2008 at 8:53 amThis sounds like a fun one, I’ll have to look out for it.
on December 1st, 2008 at 9:33 amI didn’t know there was a book trailer! And I CAN never spell Raucous right either.
on December 1st, 2008 at 12:47 pmI like the sound of this. But then again I like shows like Mythbusters and Urban legends: Fact or Fiction. I like hearing factoids and false presumtions about historical figures especially.
My husband might like this book as well. He’s British and might be interested to hear about his Royals.
on December 1st, 2008 at 7:59 pmKathy – Isn’t that gross? And why puppy urine has opposed to kitty urine? Hmm … something I thought I would never ponder.
Sally – Isn’t it weird how the “ideal” body type has changed so much? I’m sure it was a sign of wealth. More money = more fat.
Jen – It was fun.
Becky – Phew. Good to know it just wasn’t me.
Jenn M. – How did you meet your husband?
on December 1st, 2008 at 9:59 pmHe was here on vacation and we met by chance. He was with friends and I was with friends and we just went around to a few places around town. He was an electrician working on Starbucks installations in England and was learning some of it here.
We were just friends. He went back to England and I was here. I was at a bad point in my life. I had a 3 month old baby I was raising on my own and wasn’t looking for a relationship. Just so happens, my baby who didn’t sleep all night, kept me to England time, so he and I spent a lot of time on the phone and chatting online. Silly, but we were really good friends.
Then finally we decided maybe there was something more to it, and he came out here for the sole purpose of visiting us. We connected immediately and it was truly like having my best friend as my boyfriend.
This went on for a while, back and forth where I would go there and he would come here and then one day he proposed in San Francisco and here we are married with 2 kids, and a very trusting relationship.
There is Jennifer’s life saga wrapped up into a short summary.
on December 1st, 2008 at 10:14 pm[...] Codes, Solve Mysteries and Deduce Which Royal Rumors Are True by Carlyn Becci (read that review here), a fun, new picture book that investigates whether or not rumors about famous royalty from history [...]
on December 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 amJenn M. – Thanks for sharing! I was curious. Taylor’s dad met his mom while he was on vacation to Hawaii. I guess it’s a good way to get started! My MIL thought she’d never fall for a white mainlander, especially a “tourist” but she did.
on December 2nd, 2008 at 1:26 amOh this book sounds like fun. I am a trivia nut and this book looks like a good source of trivia. Puppy urine? Seriously?
on December 2nd, 2008 at 10:32 amThis sounds like so much fun! I’ve always loved the stories and even “myths” surrounding Henry VIII’s court.
I hope you are having a great day, Natasha.
on December 3rd, 2008 at 6:19 pm[...] spend the better part of the last hour on The Raucous Royals website. In the past couple of days I’ve reviewed The Raucous Royals, Test Your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries and Deduce Which Royal [...]
on December 3rd, 2008 at 10:33 pm