Anastasia

by Maggie Blackwell, Eddie Young (Illustrator)

An amnesiac orphan searches for clues to her true identity as a long-lost Russian princess

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books

94 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Bex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this movie as a kid and still do.
I remember being shocked when I was older and found out they were a real family.

[Paula Greenfield]

I really like this story and how it followed the little girl until she was a young woman. It showed courage and love.

[Abby Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this book as a child, around the time the movie came out. I remember it particularly because there was this big controversy over if little 6 year old me should be allowed to read/own this book.

Let me explain... No there is too much; let me sum up. I come from a fanatically religious family. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking being religious; I actually AM very religious myself, I'm a Bible scholar and everything, but aside from my way more reasonable mom, almost everyone else I grew up around seemed to think my tiny little mind would explode and I'd get, I dunno, possessed like that girl in the Exocist or something if they gave me a book with magic or ghosts or depictions of an afterlife. So the whole corpsey
Rasputin wanting to kill Anastasia? Yeah, certain persons who shall remain nameless had a fit over that.

Anywho, likely only because of my sensible mother's intervention, I did end up with this book on my shelf (note: about a year later I had a similar one about Mulan, after a similar idiotic controversy over the blue ancestors) until shortly after my 14th birthday. That was when many of my possessions were sold off to strangers by my psycho grandmother (I refer to this event as "the yard sale of doom"); I must have hidden my other Anastasia book (the royal diaries one) away or something, because I still have my original copy, but this picture book (and the Mulan one) were not so lucky.

Anywho, I recently acquired a copy of this lost book after all these years, and seeing these old pictures again was SO much fun! I'd forgotten how much I liked them and how much they influenced my childhood imagination.

One thing I was a little surprised about was how many pictures were these close ups that rivial shots from Les Miserables in how extreme (almost right up the characters' nostrils) they are; I didn't remember that from when I was a kid. But that added to it's charm and nostalgia for me in revisiting this.

Very charming and entertaining. Like running into an old friend again after so many years.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much just like the movie. Easy read (considering its a children's book). The illustrations weren't that great color-wise for my book and the first page was missing. You should probably watch the movie first since it skips over a lot of dialogue and songs in the book.

I guess it counts as a book for my reading challenge? But I might only be saying that since I'm 8 books behind on my reading challenge… I randomly found this book in our garage - it's from my step brother's dad I think... anyway I found it and read it. I'll probably add another book to my challenge if I have enough time.

[Ashley Hobgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had read the book because I had seen the movie. I liked how they translated the movie into a book plus the story and pictures pretty good. I thought the novel was all right. It was okay but not a favorite.

[J.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a storybook adaptation of the Warner Brothers movie, so it follows that script well.

[rzells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book for children, based on a true story