I have three picture books specifically about babies (okay, one is about baby birds). Put them together and you have a thematic story time all ready to go! Make it an event, gather a group of kids (older siblings will definitely relate!) and have fun reading all three. Or snuggle up with a child in […]
Museums Now and Then
Nowadays, most museums are large public institutions created for the purpose of educating people about specific areas of interest such as art, science, and natural history. Experts run these museums. They are well organized. And their information is accurate. But in [P.T.] Barnum’s day there were no large public museums. Instead museums were owned by […]
A Suitor For Olga
In the spring of 1914, court gossips began whispering about an engagement between eighteen-year old Olga and Prince Carol of Romania. Why else, they speculated, would the Imperial Couple plan to visit there? Indeed, a union between Olga and the prince would be advantageous for Russia. Romania was too closely aligned with Germany. Marriage to […]
Russian Dates
During Nicholas’s reign, Russia used the old-style Julian calendar to record dates, when most of the rest of the world was using the new-style Gregorian calendar. This meant Russian dates lagged twelve days behind during the nineteenth century, and thirteen days behind during the twentieth. Thus Anastasia was born June 5, 1901, according to the […]
Photo Research
What’s interesting about photograph research is that the “good” photos aren’t always the “best” photos. I’m constantly searching for pictures readers haven’t seen time and again. I like snapshots – candid, unposed images – which is what made the Romanov research so much lengthier. The family took thousands of pictures of themselves doing the most […]
Bulletproof Vests
The scene of Romanov family’s murders was horrific—you can read the grim details in the last chapters of the book. One of the interesting and complicating things that happened, was that bullets aimed directly at the children’s chests bounced off and “jumped about the room like hail.” It was the jewels they’d sewn into their […]
Royal Titles
The ruler of Russia is called the tsar or emperor (the titles are interchangeable); his wife is either the tsaritsa or empress; and his male heir is called the tsarevich. His other children are given the titles of grand duke if male, or grand duchess if female.These last titles are passed down just one more […]
The Plight of the Russian Peasants
Hunger forced many Russian peasants, including children and old people, to beg from their neighbors. They felt ashamed. But there was no help for it. There was nothing, literally nothing, to eat in their izba. And so they went to other izbas, begging for just a single morsel of bread. Relief worker Jonah Stradling described […]
All That Glitters….
Alexandra Romanov and her girls did not suffer for a want of jewelry. Take a look at some of the highlights of their jewelry box: http://bit.ly/1lRlExO(Photo credit: Carmel Wilson-Fromson, State Diamond Fund of the Rusian Federation)
Brownie Cameras
Much of the Romanov family’s entertainment came from their fascination with Brownie cameras. This is also the reason we have so many photographs of them—they took a lot of themselves. Brownie cameras (which still exist!) are celebrating one hundred and fourteen years in existence. http://bit.ly/1qHkawj