Brave with Beauty: A Story of Afghanistan

By Maxine Rose Schur, Patricia Grush, Robin Dewitt and Golsa Yaghoobi

A 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

Seven centuries ago, when the great caravans journeyed to the edges of the world, there lived a girl who loved all things of beauty.

Her name was Goharshad.

This is the extraordinary story of Queen Goharshad, a 15th-century monarch, who many historians now believe was one of the most powerful women in world history. Ruling from the Timurid artistic and cultural center of Herat in western Afghanistan, Queen Goharshad ushered in a remarkable period when poetry, music, calligraphy, painting, and the sciences flourished as never before. A poet and an architect, she designed some of the most beautiful structures ever built on earth.

This story is a celebration of a remarkable woman—talented, generous, benevolent, and brave—whose achievements are an inspiration for young readers to use their strengths to make the world a more beautiful place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Yali Publishing LLC
• Release date: Oct 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781949528954

Maxine Rose Schur

Maxine Rose Schur is an award-winning travel journalist and the author of several books for both children and adults. As the recipient of the Joan G. Sugarman Award given by the Washington Independent Writer's Legal and Educational Fund, Ms Schur was the Baker-Nord Guest Lecturer on Writing in the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University. Her evocative rendering of daily life in an Ethiopian village Day of Delight won the Parent's Choice Award and was read by Gregory Hines on National Public Radio and recorded on CD. Maxine Rose Schur's non-fiction for adults includes the books, The Reading Woman, Enchanted Islands: Voices and Visions from the Caribbean and Solo Passages, a collection of women's diary writings accompanied by a CD of classical music. Maxine Rose Schur began her career as a documentary and feature film editor for the New Zealand National Film Unit and later became a full-time writer and editor for Addison-Wesley publishing. She has also written and edited for Hampton Brown, Scholastic, Houghton-Mifflin, Harcourt Brace, The American Girl's Collection, Radio New Zealand and the BBC. Ms. Schur was the feature writer on art and culture for the magazine, Caribbean Travel & Life. Her award-winning travel essays have appeared in numerous publications including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, Américas, The Los Angeles Times, Escape, Northwest Airlines World Traveler, Traveller (U.K.) , Insight Guides and Salon.com. Her essays have also appeared in Traveler's Tales: anthologies published by O'Reilly and Associates, Wanderlust: Real-Life Tales of Adventure and Romance published by Random House, Paris in Mind by Vintage Books, Random House and The Kindness of Strangers published by Lonely Planet. Ms. Schur has twice won the Lowell Thomas Award by the Society of American Travel Writers for excellence in adventure travel journalism. Her latest book is the travel memoir, Places in Time which was named the best travel book by the North American Travel Journalists Association and took the Gold Award for Best Book by the Society of American Travel Writers. Maxine Rose Schur's most recent book is Marielle in Paris, which tells of the high-flying adventure of a fashion-designer mouse. A celebration of the City of Light, Marielle in Paris is beautifully illustrated by Jeanne de Sainte-Marie.

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Reviews for Brave with Beauty

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[mandayoga · Rating: 5 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.

[michelle_leigh316 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.

[junipersun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After reading this to my grandkids, my 5 year old granddaughter took the book with her before I had a chance to review it, so a full review will have to wait. I do recall feeling that we weren't really given a feel for this woman's life or personality. It seemed mostly about things she did.

[tx1955 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful book for ages 7-9 but even an adult like me can enjoy reading it. How interesting the life of Queen Goharshard was. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of an amazing women who was a 15th century Persian queen of what is now part of present-day Afghanistan who had a beautiful mosque and a religious complex built during her lifetime. I look forward to more books by this author.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

illustrated, historical-figures, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, near-east, Afghanistan, women *****What a wonder filled book! It is history wrapped in a story with beautiful imagery in prose and visual artistry and color. It will be read and cherished by young and old alike for its visuals and for the story of a woman of vision and the wise husband who did not demean her but supported her vision.I requested and received a free ebook copy from Yali Publishing, LLC/IBPA via NetGalley. Thank you so much!