My Napoleon

by Catherine Brighton

A young English girl describes her friendship with Napoleon when, after his defeat at Waterloo, he comes to live in her family's house on the island of St. Helena

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Shiloah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always appreciate little story gems like these. From an obscure journal this true story was found. Before Emperor Napoleon finished his days on the island of Helena, he visited this sweet girl and her family.

[Jean-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book with colorful and lively illustrations is based on Betsy Abell's "Recollections from the Emperor Napoleon." The book includes excerpts from Betsy's journal recalling her time spend with Napoleon Bonaparte following his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo when he was exiled to the island of St. Helena where Betsy and her family lived. The 11-year-old and I read this to complement our history lessons about 1800s France and Napoleon Bonaparte. My big takeaway from this one: Napoleon was a strange little man.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the true story of when Napoleon was prisoner on the island of St. Helena because he could not escape from it. A little girl named Betsy lived on that island and that is where Napoleon came to live. The book tells the story of Napoleon and Betsy’s growing friendship. At first she is afraid of him because she thinks he is a bad scary prisoner but when she gets to know him they have fun together. Napoleon plays with Betsy and they eat dinner together and go different places together. They have a love hate relationship and tend to make fun of each other a lot. In the end Betsy has to leave the island and Napoleon is sad because he loves Betsy.

This book was really cute, it was told in perspective of Betsy. It was cute to hear what she felt about Napoleon and how their relationship came to be. It was funny to hear what she thought about him, she even described him as fat. It taught readers a lot about Napoleon's temperament and how he was as a person rather than a soldier.

This book could be used as additional information if you are learning about Napoleon. You do not really learn that much about Napoleon as a general so this book would not work to learn about that aspect of his life. If you wanted to teach your students more about Napoleon then this is a cute book that they would enjoy. Also, advanced readers might enjoy this book because it is a little lengthy are has more complex sentences.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting and at times charming close-up of Napoleon when he was exiled on the island of St. Helena and befriends the daughter of the family he stays with. A few negative elements: The girl's father locks her in the cellar for a night as punishment. Napoleon makes the girl kiss a boy (his son). The girl gets sick on the carpet after eating sugar bonbons. The illustrations are well-done. I'm just not sure the benefit of reading this book outweighs the negative elements.

[Jennifer Wadman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun illustrations accompany this embellished memoir. The perpetuation of him being a tiny man cost a star.
Made me want to read about his days in exile to verify the rest.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really funny! And it's a true story!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for CC2 wk12...krb 1/23/17