June 20, 2013
Last week, the Queen celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of her coronation. This follows the festivities of last summer, when the Diamond Jubilee was marked with a series of events around the UK.
Publishers and authors have got into the spirit of the occasion with several recent books alluding to the Jublilee. From today, Reading Practice quizzes are available on two books which hark back to the time of Elizabeth II’s youth and her coronation.
Queenie is the latest book from the ever-popular Jaqueline Wilson. The setting is 1953, when Coronation Day celebrations are being prepared in London. Elsie Kettle is excited about the Coronation, but she and her nan fall ill. When Elsie is confined to a hospital bed in a children’s ward, she finds ways to entertain herself and reaches out to the other children on the ward, all with the help of the hospital’s white cat Queenie.
Historical fiction fans will enjoy Wartime Princess, from Scholastic’s My Story series, written by Valerie Wilding. Told in the format of diary entries, it follows the events in a young Princess Margaret’s life at the start of the Second World War. Along the way, she sees the effects of the war and notices her sister Elizabeth’s blossoming romance with Prince Philip of Greece.
More books on these topics
It’s easy to track down books similar to these by using the AR BookFinder website. You can use it to search for more books from the My Story series, or to find topics about the Second World War and the royal family.