Penelope Dyan
Louis XVI ascended to the throne amidst a financial crisis. The state was nearing bankruptcy and expenitures exceeded income. This was because of France’s financial obligations from their own involvement in the Seven Years War and its participation in the American Revolutionary War. The end result was overthrow of the government by a lot of angry French people. Photographer, John D. Weigand and the award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan have now once again combined efforts to create a book that does not simply spoon feed children facts, but instead encourages them to ask lots of questions and to learn. All children should be encouraged to make this book their own through inserting their own photographs, notes, tickets, etc., into the book. Dyan believes it is okay to explore all facets of history, because we learn from our history, which tends to repeat itself if left to its own devices. She also encourages children to think for themselves and to think about others, and this is a prevalent pattern in her books as she and Weigand see with the eyes of a child, what captures their infinite interest, knowing that all the riches in the world cannot begin to buy neither happiness nor a long life, as was the case with the French nobility and royalty, a repetitious historic theme.
