Sorghaghtani of Mongolia (The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses)

I got this book for my daughter who is interested in princesses. I wanted to get her a book on REAL princesses! It is definitely written for older girls so, my 5 year old isn't able to stay through the whole thing BUT, I like that we can just read a section on it and talk about it. You don't have to read the whole thing all at once. I love this series and would buy the rest of them.

This book fills a much needed gap. The usual history of the world is full of males. This book provides an alternative. A wonderful story of a female who steps up and is a wonderful leader. I loved the story. I loved the illustrations. The fact that it is a girl from Mongolia gives a wonderful addition to a much needed area and that area is the contributions of females in history. A must read for all.

Very good! Thank you.

This is a combined review with Isabella of Castile, as I read both together in the same day.These are wonderful middle-readers (ages 9-13) for the real princesses in your life. Wonderfully illustrated, including photos of related items as well as real portraits of each princess and her prince. There are special pages that illustrate even more interesting facts - "What She Ate", "What She Wore", "Where She Lived" - these add so much because they put the period of each princess' life into more context.The front of each book is a sort of glossary, explaining some of the unfamiliar words and how to pronounce them.As I read about Isabella, I wondered if her part in the Spanish Inquisition would be glossed over (it wasn't; the last page of the book tells of her role in that horrible period and lets you know that not all princesses are all good all of the time).I'd never heard of Sorghaghtani, who at age 11 married Genghis Khan's son Tolui (who was 10 at the time), so you don't have to be a youngster to learn something.Although the books don't have a lot of pages (one has 24), there is so much of interest bundled into each page that they are well worth having.These are part of a series of books titled "The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses", which also includes: Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, and Nur Jahan of India.All of these books introduce princesses who were able to wield considerable influence, even when women weren't "supposed" to have any power or authority.If you have a middle-reader, these are definitely books to have on hand. I really really recommend them.QUOTES:If it weren't for Isabella, Spain would not be the country it is today, and America would not exist as we know it!Just like any nomadic group, when it came time to find better pasture for their animals, the whole court packed up and moved. Sorghaghtani's household alone needed more than 100 carts to move all their gers and possessions - the gers perched fully assembled on top of the carts, the Mongolian version of mobile homes.