Diana: The People's Princess

Grade 3-5?Since Diana's death, numerous biographies have been written about her. This one is particularly useful for this age range. Chapters are short?each covers a double-page spread. Large, colorful, well-captioned photographs abound. Trivia is offered up in colorful sideboxes throughout the text. Starting with her birth, the book gives evidence that the princess led a sad, if charmed, life. The author does take some liberties?Diana's feelings are mentioned ("she felt abandoned and helpless") without citing sources. The book is pro-Diana to a fault, even showing a captioned picture of her "winning" a school race, when other sources claim she came in second. A superfluous glossary and useful list for further reading are appended. A chronology includes an entry for 1990 stating that Diana was "photographed looking sad and lonely while in India." Didn't anything more significant happen that year? Throughout, the princess's concern for humanity shines through. Marc Cerasini's Diana (Random, 1997) offers much of the same information for a slightly older crowd. Select Wood's book wherever there is interest.?Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 4^-7. Princess Diana led an indisputably privileged life, viewed by many as a romantic, modern-day fairy tale. But as Wood shows, Diana's life was filled with challenges, joys, and traumas, some ordinary, some extraordinary. Her parents divorced when she was young; growing up she was much like any other kid--she liked horses, she didn't like school, and she often got into trouble. Young readers may be surprised to learn that after leaving school, Diana worked as a waitress, housecleaner, and nanny before becoming a nursery school teacher--but her marriage to Prince Charles changed all that. She chose to use her fame and wealth as a means to call attention to, and financially support, real world problems, such as AIDS, leprosy, and homelessness. Wood explains in simple terms Diana's struggles and shows how her fairy-tale life went hand in hand with a very different reality. Lots of color photos and sidebars giving bits of personal information help make this biography an attention-holder. Bibliography, glossary, time line. Shelle Rosenfeld