Joan of Arc: The Lily Maid

This book was about the brave life of a french peasant Joan d'(of) Arc. The story explains how the voices of god (angels and saints) told her that she was the one who needed to save France. Knowing that the king of France would not take a women seriously much less a peasant Joan cleverly disguised herself as a male and goes to confront the king. Impressed with Joan he gave her an army and a horse and told her to defend her country against England. Joan bravely led her troops in the name of god and his messenger. Soon after her charge on the English Joan was captured and put on trial for her charades and was sentenced to death by burning on the stakes. No one took this women seriously, much less believe that she had been chosen by god to fight for his message. After her death Joan was deemed a saint and forever known as the brave Saint Joan d' Arc. I like the authors way of simply telling the story. The pictures in the book vividly displayed emotion and showed the trial wonderfully. Depicting the judges anger, the juries humor and Joan's undying passion and courage. The author shared with the readers the courage Joan had. Inviting the readers to fight for what they believe in and never give up on their values no matter what. A wonderful story of bravery and courage.

I was impressed with the look of this book as much as with the content. Both the author and the illustrator have created a lovely retelling of the story of Joan! And when my, then 6 year old, daughter brought it home from her school library, I could see her spark of interest in St. Joan coming to life. One year later, she brought up the notion of finding this book again. She hadn't seen it since the one time she had checked it out at school, last year. That is what convinced me to purchase it for our home library. It trully is a book you'll want to read and look at over and over!