Goharshad was the queen of Herat (western Afghanistan) during the 15th century. Goharshad was focused on the arts and creating beautiful things. This is a children's book outlining her life and accomplishments. The book was centered on beautiful and detailed illustrations. The story itself was a bit odd, but interesting nonetheless. Overall 4 out of 5 stars. ( )

A beautiful tale about Queen Goharshad in 15th century Afghanistan. The illustrations were captivating and my children enjoyed the intricate drawings. We have been working diligently to add more books about strong women from other cultures, and this was an excellent addition to our home library. ( )

The pictures in this book were beautiful. This queen did build beautiful things, and the book did list her contributions to her country. Which is what the book wanted to feature. I had hoped that this book would contribute to the lack of children’s literature on interesting periods and places of history. It does to some extend give you a feel for the time and place of this queen, but perhaps it meant to focus on one woman's life and desire to see her country improved. She certainly did this. An interesting story to read hone you would like to know more about a different culture.

I really enjoyed reading this picture book. I found the story inspiring and loved the focus on art and music. I think it is important to show our children that being a brave and strong leader does not have to go hand and hand with violence. I also loved the illustrations; they were extremely colorful and detailed. Lastly, I found the glossary of terms to be very helpful in following along with the story and it’s a really neat idea to being exposing young minds to new cultures and languages. ( )