The age of castles and conquest, monks and mystery lives again as William the Conqueror rushes to Hastings, ready to reclaim his crown from Harold and the Saxons. The Normans are victorious in this famous battle of 1066 wearing chain mail and carrying kite-shaped shields. Hundreds of years later, a ... more

The age of castles and conquest, monks and mystery lives again as William the Conqueror rushes to Hastings, ready to reclaim his crown from Harold and the Saxons. The Normans are victorious in this famous battle of 1066 wearing chain mail and carrying kite-shaped shields. Hundreds of years later, a young girl clad in armor and flying her own standard courageously leads an army to take back France for the king. Joan of Arc is later captured, is sold to England, and loses her life as the result of an unfair trial. Now children ages 6 to 12 can make movable action figures and relive the memorable events of the Middle Ages with Famous Figures of Medieval Times: Movable Paper Figures to Cut, Color, and Assemble. Ten of the most important figures of medieval times—including Justinian I, Theodora, Charlemagne, Leif Eriksson, William the Conqueror, Richard the Lionheart, Genghis Khan, Francis of Assisi, Marco Polo, and Joan of Arc—will come to life as children color, cut, and assemble each figure with movable arms, legs, swords, and shields. The sturdy characters may be used to reinforce history lessons with an engaging activity, to reenact famous moments in history, or even to create new stories. This creative learning tool features detailed illustrations based on authentic mosaics, paintings, and sculpture. Each character comes in easy-to-assemble colored and colorable versions printed on heavy cardstock for hours of creative play. A detailed biography section provides key facts about each person. To add to the learning fun, a reading list is included for parent/teacher read-alouds and independent readers. “Children are fascinated to learn about the lives of these extraordinary people from the Middle Ages. There are so many stories of courage and heroism to inspire young minds,” observes Diez-Luckie. Famous Figures of Medieval Times: Movable Paper Figures to Cut, Color, and Assemble and Famous Figures of the American Revolution (both June 2011) are the second and third in a series of cut-and-color movable action figure history books from Figures In Motion. They follow the award-winning Famous Figures of Ancient Times (2009), as well as Dinosaurs on the Move (2010 Book of the Year, Creative Child Magazine). Other titles will include Women of History, Famous Figures of the Renaissance, Famous Figures of the Civil War, Famous Figures of the Bible, and Animals Running Wild.