Queen Victoria's Bathing Machine

Queen Victoria is ready to break free from the constraints of life at the top (including literal ones, like corsets) and take a swim in the ocean. But that would never do given the mores of the era named after her--until her beloved husband Albert hits on a solution: a covered wooden cart with an undressing room that can be rolled into the sea, allowing the swimmer to discreetly enter the water. "No one will get so much as a peep," Albert assures her, "except for the creatures down in the deep." Whelan's (Homeless Bird) rhyming bounds along with a crackle worthy of Gilbert and Sullivan, and Carpenter's (Big Bear's Big Boat) digital drawings are sublime. Her portrait of a loving marriage (which includes a scene of the Queen and Her Consort canoodling--in their nightgowns!) is every bit as wonderful as the busier scenes in which Albert (with assists from the couple's many children) devises his contraption. But the finest image is the penultimate, which finds an ecstatic Victoria gliding through the lapis water in her swimming costume. Ages 5-8. (Apr.)

In delightful rhyming prose, Whelan brings history to life recounting an amusing anecdote of Queen Victoria and her bathing machine (currently on display at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight). One hot summer day, the British queen longs to take a refreshing dip in the sea, but her lady-in-waiting is scandalized. "It would be a disgrace/to see more of the queen than her hands and her face." Victoria's devoted husband, Albert, gives all his genius to the problem, promising to come up with a way to transport her unseen from the beach to the water. He discards his first idea involving a catapult, but inspiration strikes in the middle of the night. "Just after midnight/Albert sprang from the bed./A brilliant idea/had come to his head." He starts working on his invention the next morning, constructing a portable dressing room on wheels. Impressed and excited, Victoria dons her bathing suit inside the clever contraption and the bathing machine is then rolled into the sea, whereupon she dives right into the surf and indulges in a glorious swim. The digital artwork deftly portrays the loving relationship shared by Victoria and Albert. Comical details and the inclusion of the royal couple's nine mischievous children in many of the scenes add to the fun. For a royal day out at the library, pair this outstanding title with Celeste Davidson Mannis's The Queen's Progress (Viking, 2003).—Linda L. Walkins, Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, Boston, MA