Andronik, Catherine M. Hatshepsut, his majesty, herself. Illustrated by Joseph Daniel Fiedler. New York: Atheneum, 2001. ISBN: 978-0689825620.
Author Website: None
Illustrator Website: http://www.scaryjoey.com/
Media: Alkyd (Oil) Paint on Paper
Special Notations: Non-Fiction, Lesson Plan (available at http://picturebooksforbigkids.blogspot.com/2011/08/6th-grade-information-skills-lesson.html).
Curricular Connection: History Social-Science Content Standards for California, Grade Six, Standard 6.2: Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush, 7. Understand the significance of Queen Hatshepsut and Ramses the Great.
Annotation: This picture book biography takes readers back to 1458 B.C. to a time when Egypt’s only female pharaoh ruled. The life of Hatshepsut is recounted alongside earth-toned oil paintings.
Personal Reaction: Sixth graders in California study the life and times of Egypt’s only female pharaoh and Andronik’s picture book geared toward older readers is an ideal source for these students. Andronik, a school library media teacher, teams up with artist Joseph Daniel Fiedler to share the significance of Hatshepsut’s life with readers. Fiedler’s rich paintings are done in Alkyd, a common oil paint that looks anything but common. On one page, text is overlaid on a highlighted rectangle of Fiedler’s painting of the Egyptian cliffs in the background of Hatshepsut’s temple (p. 6), creating a wonderful marriage between the writing and drawings in this book. I was fascinated by Hatshepsut’s moxie. At the tender age of fifteen, Hatshepsut declares herself a pharaoh and takes on ruling Egypt until her deceased husband’s son (also her nephew) by another woman is old enough to rule. The title of this book, Hatshepsut, His Majesty, Herself references the fact that there is no word for female ruler in the Egyptian language. Hatshepsut used the word for male ruler and even wore a beard and men’s clothing at times. At age twenty-two years, Hatshepsut died and her nephew began his reign and did his best to erase proof of his aunt’s historic years ruling Egypt. The author includes a timeline at the beginning of the book, as well as a bibliography of recommended reading at the back of the book. A final note on the last page of the book informs students of museums in the United States where archaeological finds related to Hatshepsut can be seen. Fans of Rick Riordan’s The Kane Chronicles may enjoy learning that the two obelisks prominently featured in Riordan’s Egyptian fantasy series were built by Tuthmosis III, Hatshepsut’s successor.
