Review by Booklist Review
Once upon a time, Elizabeth of York was a little princess who enjoyed playing with the family dogs. When she was 11, her father became King George VI. When she turned 18, he gave her what she wanted most in the world, a puppy of her own, named Susan. A Pembroke Welsh corgi, the dog became Elizabeth's constant companion and always seemed to understand her emotions. She was supportive when Elizabeth joined a women's regiment during WWII. Susan stowed away in the bridal carriage taking the princess to be married, and she comforted Elizabeth when her father died. Soon Elizabeth was crowned queen. After Susan's death, she owned a succession of corgis and regarded them as family. The book concludes with the family tree of Queen Elizabeth II and another family tree showing Susan and her descendants. Introducing Elizabeth first as an unpretentious child, Perry's precisely worded text portrays the down-to-earth side of the monarch. The expressive illustrations, created with pencil, watercolor, and gouache, complete this appealing portrayal of the queen and her beloved pet.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An introduction to the British royal families--human and canine. Perry begins with the recently deceased Elizabeth II, seen here as a young girl. Elizabeth "wasn't a storybook princess" even after her father became king, and after bonding with a corgi pup she named Susan, Elizabeth trained to be an auto mechanic in World War II. During the war, Susan guarded her charge "like a precious lamb," and afterward, along with often finding herself "in the doghouse" for mischievous pranks in the palace, had pups of her own named Sugar and Honey. Meanwhile, Elizabeth married, became queen, and--though Susan eventually stopped barking and was buried--went on to own at least 30 corgis, many of them Susan's descendants. "Susan's legacy lives on," the author concludes. As evidence, she closes with two multigenerational family trees--from Victoria and Albert to Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2021) on one, and from Susan to Willow (d. 2018) on the other, with an utterly precious note about a hybrid line of "dorgis" co-founded by a dachshund parent. Corry supplies cleanly drawn scenes of smiling, stubby legged, solid-looking orange dogs and slender, upright royals, both in regal poses, surrounded on public occasions by racially diverse crowds of attentive onlookers. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A sweet sidelight cast on Britain's longest reigning monarch and her furry, four-legged retinue. (Informational picture book. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
