Women's History Month - Emma Lazarus, an activist and author of poetry and prose.

In 1883 and American poet called Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet called The New Colossus. She wrote the poem to raise money for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World). In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Below is a a review of a marvelous award wining book that tells the story of Emma Lazarus and her famous poem.

Emma’s Poem: The voice of the Statue of Liberty 

Linda Glaser
Illustrated by Clair A. Nivola 
Nonfiction Poetry Picture Book
For ages 5 to 7
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013, 978-0544105089
When Emma was little she had a very comfortable life living in a lovely, large home with her mother, father, and siblings. She lacked for nothing, and was able to indulge in her love of books. She had the time to read, and spent many hours writing stories and poems. The people she spent time with came from similarly comfortable backgrounds, and the world of New York’s well-to- do people was the only one she knew.
   Then one day Emma visited Ward’s Island in New York Harbor and there she met immigrants who had travelled across the Atlantic as steerage passengers. They were poor and hungry, and many of them were sick. They had so little and had suffered so much. Like Emma, they were Jews, but unlike her they had been persecuted and driven from their homes. Friends and family members had died, and now here they were in a strange land with no one to assist them.
   Emma was so moved by the plight of the immigrants that she did her best to help them. She taught them English, helped them to get training so that they could get jobs, and she wrote about the problems that such immigrants faced. Women from her background were not supposed to spend time with the poor, and they certainly did not write about them in newspapers, but Emma did.
   Then Emma was invited to write a poem that would be part of a poetry collection. The hope was that the sale of the collection would pay for the pedestal that would one day serve as the base for a new statue that France was giving to America as a gift. The statue was going to be placed in New York Harbor and Emma knew that immigrants, thousands of them, would see the statue of the lady when their ships sailed into the harbor. What would the statue say to the immigrants if she was a real woman? What would she feel if she could see them “arriving hungry and in rags?” In her poem, Emma gave the statue a voice, a voice that welcomed all immigrants to America’s shores.
   In this wonderfully written nonfiction picture book the author uses free verse to tell the story of Emma Lazarus and the poem that she wrote. The poem was inscribed on a bronze plaque that is on the wall in the entryway to the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal. It has been memorized by thousands of people over the years, and has come to represent something that many Americans hold dear.
   At the back of the book readers will find further information about Emma Lazarus and her work. A copy of her famous poem can also be found there.

The plaque inside the statue of liberty

Happy Birthday, Kate Greenaway

Art from the Pied Piper of Hamelin

For many years I saw Kate Greenaway's artwork without knowing who the artist was. Her style is very distinctive and so charming to the eye. Then I was given a copy of her nook The Language of Flowers and I looked her up. I confess that I felt rather embarrassed that I, a person working in the children's literature field, did not know about this woman, a woman who had such a big impact on the world of children's literature. As you will read below, she was a real trailblazer who refused to be dictated to with regards to her art. 

Kate Greenaway was the most popular children’s book illustrator of her generation. During the last two decades of the 19th century, her idyllic illustrations presented an aspirational view of childhood that charmed readers in her native Britain, Europe, and as far away as America. Like her peers Walter Crane and Randolph Caldecott, she collaborated with London’s best color-printer to produce a new, innovative product—high-quality books for the juvenile market. What set Greenaway apart in this triumvirate of excellence was her unique vision. While Crane and Caldecott illustrated stories written for children, Greenaway’s work featured the children themselves—quaintly dressed in ruffles and bonnets and set against picturesque, bucolic landscapes. 

Kate Greenaway in her studio in 1895

   Greenaway’s illustrations were appealing and relevant. Victorians celebrated childhood innocence despite the fact that child labor played an essential role in Britain’s economic prosperity. The contrast between popular sentiment and painful reality eventually inspired change, and the start of Greenaway’s career coincided with measures aimed at stopping the worst exploitation of children. The 1867 Factory and Workshop Acts were among the first directives to put meaningful limitations on child labor. Foster’s Education Act, which followed in 1870, advocated compulsory elementary education for English and Welsh children and paved the way for additional improvements throughout the decade. In this climate of social change, Greenaway’s illustrations resonated. Much to her chagrin, her fame spawned a host of imitators who copied her work on everything from handkerchiefs to caskets.
The enchanted quality of Greenaway’s illustrations reflected her own memorable childhood. She was born in London into a lively, creative family. Her father was a skilled engraver and her mother an inventive milliner. Kate was an imaginative child who absorbed the beauty of the countryside and the intrigue of city life with equal admiration. “Living in that childish wonder is a most beautiful feeling,” she once confided to a friend. “I can so well remember it. There was always something more—behind and above everything—to me; the golden spectacles were very, very big.” Through those golden lenses, Greenaway observed her father’s engaging business. John Greenaway kept a scrapbook of engraving examples, and Kate remembered how a Cruikshank illustration of an execution fascinated and horrified her. Providing an antidote were the half penny fairytales in the family library. Bluebeard and Beauty and the Beast were among her favorites—mysterious, terrifying tales that nonetheless, ended well.
   Both parents encouraged Greenaway’s interest in art, and by the time she was twelve, she was winning prizes at a local academy. As her skill increased, she attended London’s South Kensington School and then Heatherley’s, the first British art school to admit women to life-drawing classes. By the age of 21 she was enrolled in London’s newly formed Slade School, an institution dedicated to equal education for women. While still attending classes, Greenaway developed her distinctive style, creating watercolors of children dressed in clothing she designed, assembled and fitted on models or lay figures. Although her costumes resembled the styles of the Regency era, a half-century earlier, they owed as much to invention as to authenticity. When Greenaway finished her education, her drawings found a modest market in the lesser-known periodicals.
   A turning point in Kate Greenaway’s career came when a Valentine she designed sold more than 25,000 copies. Her share of the profits was less than three pounds, but the card’s popularity yielded years of work designing birthday and holiday greetings. Although the enterprise provided a modest income, Greenaway’s cards were either unsigned or initialed. Her biographer, M. H. Spielmann, noted that at the age of 33 she was still “the hidden mainspring of a clock with the maker’s name upon the dial.” Greenaway’s fortunes changed in 1878 when she presented a portfolio of 50 drawings with accompanying verses to printer, Edmund Evans. Years later, Evans recalled that first meeting, “I was fascinated with the originality of the drawings and the ideas of the verse, so I at once purchased them and determined to reproduce them in a little volume.” 

 Edmund Evans engraved and printed Greenaway’s “little volume” in 1879. Although the publisher questioned the wisdom of investing in an unknown artist, Evans was in the position to take a risk. By this time, he was operating three thriving establishments built on a decade-long dominance of the juvenile market and an eye for extraordinary talent. Evans issued 20,000 copies of Under the Window, and the initial run sold out before he could release the next 50,000. This triumph began their long, profitable association. Between 1879 and 1898, Evans printed 932,100 works illustrated by Greenaway.
Despite the acclaim accompanying the release of each new Kate Greenaway book, her friends were free with advice on how she could improve her work—mistaking the simplicity of her carefully crafted world for a failure to grasp the principles of academic art. When artist Henry Stacy Marks told her to remove the dark shadows under the heels of her characters, she obeyed. When poet Frederick Locker-Lampson suggested she vary their stoic expressions, she responded politely but changed nothing. When Britain’s leading art critic, John Ruskin, advised her to strip her “girlies” entirely, she did not. “Will you—” Ruskin cajoled. “(It’s all for your own good!)… draw her for me without her hat—and, without her shoes,—(because of the heels) and without her mittens, and without her—frock and its frill?”
Greenaway’s style was the result of a sophisticated, intentional effort to capture the illusive magic of childhood. She was neither naïve nor uninformed. Literature, and contemporary art provided continuing inspiration, and Greenaway was a frequent visitor to London’s museums and galleries. She regularly participated in the city’s cultural life exhibiting her work at the Dudley Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolor, and the 1889 International Exhibition in Paris. Her first solo exhibition yielded sales of more than £1,000 and some distinguished patrons—among them painter Sir Frederic Leighton who purchased two of her watercolors.
   Refined manners and a cautious reserve disguised Greenaway’s thorough understanding of the worth

Art from Kate's last book

 of her work. Long before it was common practice, she demanded the return of all her original illustrations. Although her contract with Edmund Evans for Under the Window gave her one-third of the returns from sales, she requested 50 percent of the profits from all subsequent work and refused to sell the copyright on any of her designs. Greenaway’s competitor, Walter Crane, acknowledged that her earnings exceeded his own, noting that behind her unobtrusive personality he detected “a certain shrewdness.” Indeed, throughout her career, Greenaway’s business insight yielded a handsome income for both herself and her family.   Greenaway’s last book, The April Baby’s Book of Tunes, was published in 1900. She died of cancer on November 6, 1901, at the age of 55. Her sensitive work, purposefully created to honor childhood’s innocence and charm, was her gift to posterity. Greenaway never married and had no children of her own. What little we know about her personal life is gleaned from letters saved by friends and colleagues. Greenaway was resolute about her priorities, and she valued peace and seclusion over celebrity. “You must wait till I am dead,” she once wrote in response to an interview request. “Till then I wish to live my life privately—like an English gentlewoman.”
   The Kate Greenaway Medal was established by The Library Association of the United Kingdom in 1955 for distinguished illustration in a book for children. The award is given annually in the United Kingdom by CILIP, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. You can look at a list of the winners of this prestigious award here. Titles that I have loved that won the award include The Lost Words by Jack Morris, This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen, Ella's Big Chance by Shirley Hughes, and Mrs. Cockle’s Cat by Antony Maitland. 

Happy Birthday Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“It’s an unconscious bias. It’s the expectation. You have a lowered expectation when you hear a woman speaking; I think that still goes on. That instinctively when a man speaks, he will be listened to, where people will not expect the woman to say anything of value. But all of the women in my generation have had, time and again, that experience where you say something at a meeting, and nobody makes anything of it. And maybe half an hour later, a man makes the identical point, and people react to it and say, ‘Good idea.’ That, I think, is a problem that persists.” - Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were talking about this very thing, about the way in which women have to work so much harder to be  'heard and seen in this world.  I honestly believe that Ruth did a great deal to fight against this bias, and it is important that we all learn about her and the work that she did. 

I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark

Debbie Levy

Illustrated by Elizabeth Baddeley 

Nonfiction

For ages 5 to 7

Simon and Schuster, 2016, 978-1481465595

It is 1940 and Ruth Bader lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. Ruth’s neighbors are mostly immigrants, and though they speak different languages, celebrate different holidays, and eat different foods, there is one important thing that they all have in common: In these families the boys get to “go out into the world, and do big things,” and the girls stay a home and get married.

   Thankfully for Ruth, her mother Celia thinks that girls should be allowed to “make their mark on the world” too, and so she takes Ruth to the library. Through books Ruth finds out about many women who have done interesting and meaningful things with their lives. Ruth discovers that contrary to what society seems to believe, girls and women can do anything. They can even take charge if they want to.

   As she grew up, Ruth saw for herself how women, people of color, and Jews like her, were discriminated against. As a child there wasn’t much Ruth could do about these injustices, but she did not forget them.

   Nor surprisingly, clever, hardworking, and hard headed Ruth went to college. There she met Martin Ginsburg, a young man who made her laugh and with whom she fell in love. The couple decided that they would both go to law school because as lawyers they could “fight unfairness and prejudice in courts.” People approved of Martin’s choice of career, but they did not think that Ruth should try to be a lawyer.

   Ruth did not listen to those who disapproved of her career choice. She went to law school and did brilliantly. Surely now Ruth would get the opportunity to bring about the changes that she had dreamed of. Unfortunately, the fact that Ruth was a woman, that she was a mother, and that she was Jewish meant that no one wanted to hire her.

   This wonderful picture book biography tells the story of one of America’s greatest woman, a woman who has fought for justice and equal rights, and who showed the world that a woman can be a lawyer, a judge, and a justice on the Supreme Court.

   At the back of the book readers will find further information about Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life and her work.

 

Women's History Month - A reading of Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl's Baseball Dream

 

Catching the Moon: The Story of a Young Girl’s Baseball Dream is an award winning story based on the childhood of Marcenia “Toni Stone” Lyle Alberga (1921–1995), an African American girl who grew up to become the first woman to play for an all-male professional baseball team. Despite her parents’ misgivings, young Marcenia cared only about playing baseball and was a regular on a team of local boys. Then Gabby Street, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, came to town looking for recruits for a summer baseball camp. Undeterred by the fact that the camp was only for boys, and that her family could not afford proper baseball shoes (cleats), Marcenia made up her mind to attend. She did everything in her power to change Street’s mind. Finally her determination and pluck won him over. Marcenia was accepted into the camp and on her way to making her dream of a baseball career come true.

Storyline Online has created a wonderful reading of this story for you to enjoy.

Women's History Month - The Story of Marianne North

Oil painting of Mount Fujiyama framed by wisteria by Marianne North

Marianne North was an extraordinary woman of means who taught herself how to paint, funded her own expeditions to the far corners of the world to find her subjects, and wrote a biography or two recounting her adventures.

   The eldest child of Frederick North, Member of Parliament for Hastings, Marianne had shown an interest in painting and writing, proper 'accomplishments' for a young Victorian lady, suitable hobbies for the daughter of an established family, but never a thought to making a career of such things.
For the sake of both business and recreation Frederick North travelled throughout Europe and the Middle East, and Marianne would often accompany him. During these happy years she learned to improve her skills as an artist, being taught first by a Dutch artist, Miss van Fowinkel, and later by Valentine Bartholomew, one of Queen Victoria's flower painters. She met Sir William Hooker who presented her with specimens to sketch while visiting Kew and refining her skills as an artist.
With the death of her father in 1870, Marianne found herself adrift and wanting focus. Having never married she had retained much of her father's modest fortune, and now sought to use it in her pursuit - painting flowers in their natural settings.

   Her first journey alone was in 1871, she travelled via Jamaica to the United States and Canada. She carried with her suitable letters of introduction, so initially it would seem that her travels were properly accommodated, and this was indeed the case for the most part. Later, however, she found herself trudging through wilderness, scaling cliffs and enduring swarms of insects in the pursuit of her subjects. In the situation necessitated 'roughing it' in tents or sleeping on the ground, she did.
   Her second solo journey took her to the jungles of Brazil, where she stayed for 8 months and completed over 100 paintings. Then in 1875 she travelled across America on her way to Japan, Sarawak, Java, and Ceylon and then back to England briefly. With barely enough time to unpack she was on her way again, this time to India. She remained in India for 15 months and produced a remarkable 200 paintings of mostly plants, but also of the local buildings she liked. Upon her return to London she exhibited her work at Conduit Street, where the positive reception and popularity of her work

encouraged her to display her collection at Kew Gardens, in London.
   In the summer of 1879 she wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker offering to donate her collected works, along with a building suitable to house them, to the garden, with the stipulation that the gallery serve as place for garden visitors rest. Her donation was graciously accepted and Kew gained one of it most enduring features - The Marianne North Gallery. Her friend, architectural historian James Fergusson, designed the building after the colonial structures she had admired in India, and when it was completed, she carefully arranged all her paintings in a dense mosaic on the walls, sorted according to geographical location of subject. She even embellished the gallery with a few of her own designs.
   But long before it was done, she was looking for another journey to undertake. It was at his suggestion of Charles Darwin , who had been a friend of her father's, that she chose her next great destination, Australia and New Zealand. While on an expedition through Australia she met with Marian Ellis Rowan, a talented young woman who would prove to be an accomplished natural history artist in her own right, and taught her how to paint with oils.
   She developed a rapid, vaguely impressionistic, style that allowed her to complete most of her paintings in a day or less. While some critics have seen this as a weakness in her work, others have found in it a vitality, an obvious joy in creation that is almost palpable when viewing her works. Her paintings are not typical of most botanical artists in that her colors are almost more vibrant than in life, and her images, although accurate and true to the subject, do not full illustrate all the plant's distinguishing features. However, she was no stranger to plant identification and taxonomy, being something of an amateur naturalist herself. She even found and painted a previously unknown genus of tree that would later be named in her honor - Northea seychellana. For other species would be named after her, including Nepenthes northiana - one of the giant pitcher plants from Borneo, Crinum northianum - an obscure Amarylis relative she discovered in Borneo, Areca northiana - a feather palm, and Kniphofia northiae - an aloe relative from South Africa, sometimes known as Red Hot Poker.

Butterflies' Road through Gongo Forest, Brazil by Marianne North

   The one continent missing from her travels, and therefore her gallery, was Africa, so in August 1882 she packed her bags and continued her mission. She travelled down to the Cape, and then up to the Seychelles, before returning home in 1883. Her health had been failing for some time, and by the time she made her expedition to Chile in 1884, despite rheumatism and increasing deafness, it had become evident to her that this would be her last great journey. She retired to Alderley, Gloucestershire, where she died on August 30th 1890.
   Her extensive journals were edited by her sister, Catherine North Symonds, and published in two volumes in 1892 as Recollections of a Happy Life: Being the Autobiography of Marianne North. London and New York; Macmillan, 1892) and proved so popular that a further volume was released the next year - Some Further Recollections of a Happy Life, Selected from the Journals of Marianne North, Chiefly Between the Years 1859 and 1869. (Edited by Catherine North Symonds. London and New York: Macmillan, 1893).

Women's History Month - The story of Libba Cotten

More than twenty years after the death of folk guitar legend Elizabeth Cotten, her music is still heard everywhere. Cotten, who began her public career at the age of 68, became a key figure in the folk revival of the 60's and a National Heritage Fellow. In 1985, at the age of 93, Cotten won a Grammy for Best Ethnic or Traditional Folk Recording for her album Elizabeth Cotten — Live! 

Libba: The Magnificent Musical Life of Elizabeth Cotten 

Laura Veirs

Illustrated by Tatyana Fazlalizadeh 

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Chronicle Books, 2018, 978-1452148571

Libba Cotton has music running all the way through her. Everywhere she goes she hears music. Even the sound of the freight trains clattering down the tracks near her house is musical to her ears.

   Libba’s brother has a guitar, which she is not allowed to play. However, when he goes to work Libba sneaks into his room and plays the guitar, even though she has to play it “upside down” and “backwards” because she is left-handed. This is certainly a strange way to play a guitar, but Libba does not care. Somehow this unusual way of playing works for her and she is able to create music.

   After Libba’s brother leaves home, taking his guitar with him, Libba starts to save up to buy a guitar of her own. Earning seventy-five cents a month Libba saves and saves until she has enough to buy a Stella guitar. How Libba plays that guitar! It becomes an extension of her arm and she still plays it backwards and upside down because she is left-handed and the guitar was built for a right handed player. When she is only thirteen Libba writes her first song. It is called Freight Train.

   Then life gets busy and Libba stops playing the guitar because there are too many other things that need to be done. Libba never guesses that one day, when she is a grandmother, music will come back into her life and it will change her future in the most wonderful ways.

   In this beautifully written and very moving book, Laura Veirs, who is herself an accomplished guitar player, performer, and songwriter, tells the story of an extraordinary woman who was a self-taught and very gifted musician. Libba’s song Freight Train is known by musicians and music lovers all over the world, and it was a firm favorite in Laura’s childhood home.

   In addition to the main story, Laura provides her readers with further information about Libba at the back of the book in an author’s note. She also tells us how she became get interested in Libba’s remarkable story.

Women's History Month - With a review of Mary Walker Wears the Pants

I still remember the first biography - written for youngsters - that I read. My parents bought it for me at the library sale, and it was the story of Florence Nightingale. The book had a plain, dark blue, linen cover and the only illustration in it was an etching of Florence on the frontispiece. The story completely transfixed me. First the first time I learned how hard it was for women in the 1800s to enter a profession, and how restricted their lives were. I remember feeling furious because I read that Florence's parents wanted her to be a 'good girl' and marry a suitable young man; they were appalled when she announced that she was going to become a nurse. I was appalled at their behavior and attitude and I still seethe every time I hear someone belittle a girl or a woman.

Today I bring you a biography of a women who, like Florence Nightingale, wanted to be a healer. Like Florence she pushed against the establishment that wanted to deprive her of that opportunity. The book was written by my dear friend Chery Harness. 

Mary Walker Wears the Pants: The True Story of the Doctor, Reformer, and Civil War Hero 
Cheryl Harness
Illustrated by Carlo Molinari 
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 6 to 9
Albert Whitman & Company, 2013, 978-0807549902
In the 1800s, tradition dictated that men wore pants and women wore long dresses, and under thesedresses there were layers of petticoats and tight corsets. At that time men alone were allowed to vote, women were not allowed to participate in politics of any kind, and as a result women had little to control over their own lives. They were also not allowed to becomes doctors, lawyers, bankers, or business owners; indeed the only jobs that they could take on was teaching, nursing, cleaning, and working in a factory.
   Then Mary Edwards Walker came along and she refused to accept these rules and societal restrictions. “Her parents taught her to think for herself,” and this is exactly what she did, even if it meant that people talked about her behind her back. She dared to become a doctor, one of the first women in America to do so, and she dared to wear pants because they were a lot more comfortable and sensible than those silly dresses.
   When the Civil War broke out, Mary went to Washington D.C to do all she could to help. Wounded men were pouring into the capital city, and there were not enough doctors to tend to them all. Though she was a trained doctor, she was not allowed to be a surgeon in the army. Instead, for a while, she did what she could to make the soldiers more comfortable working as a nurse. 

   This kind of nursing was something other determined women did, women like Clara Barton, and Louisa May Alcott. After a time, Mary decided that her skills were being wasted and even though she was not allowed to serve as an army surgeon, she went to the field hospitals and offered her help. The medical staff at these facilities were stretched so thin that Mary’s help was accepted. By some. Eventually, in 1863, she was allowed to become an assistant surgeon in the U.S. Army. Thrilled to finally be allowed to work as a proper doctor, Mary set off for the front lines. She never imagined then that all kinds of adventures, some of which were dangerous, lay in her future.   
   In this wonderful picture book biography readers will meet a woman who believed that everyone had the right to wear what they wished, think what they wished, and say what they wished. She wore pants in public to make it clear to everyone that she met that she would not be bound by accepted societal norms. 

   Cheryl Harness tells Mary’s story with evident admiration, spirit, and touches of humor, thus helping us to get to know a woman who was courageous and determined. 

A Mighty Girl

A Mighty Girl is a wonderful organization that supports and encourages girls to grow up to be strong women. They have a splendid listing of books about exceptional women on their website that I encourage you to visit. 

About A Mighty Girl:

"A Mighty Girl is the world’s largest collection of books, toys, movies, and music for parents, teachers, and others dedicated to raising smart, confident, and courageous girls and, of course, for girls themselves!

After years of seeking out empowering and inspirational books for our four young nieces, we decided to create A Mighty Girl as a resource site to help others equally interested in supporting and celebrating girls. The site was founded on the belief that all children should have the opportunity to read books, play with toys, listen to music, and watch movies that offer positive messages about girls and honor their diverse capabilities.

Girls do not have to be relegated to the role of sidekick or damsel in distress; they can be the leaders, the heroes, the champions that save the day, find the cure, and go on the adventure. It is our hope that these high-quality children’s products will help a new generation of girls to grow and pursue whatever dreams they choose -- to truly be Mighty Girls!"

March is Women's History Month

Women’s History Month is a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society and has been observed annually in the month of March in the United States since 1987. Women’s History Month 2022 will take place from Tuesday, March 1-Thursday, March 31, 2022. 

The actual celebration of Women’s History Month grew out of a weeklong celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the school district of Sonoma, California, in 1978. Presentations were g

iven at dozens of schools, hundreds of students participated in a “Real Woman” essay contest and a parade was held in downtown Santa Rosa.

A few years later, the idea had caught on within communities, school districts and organizations across the country. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. The U.S. Congress followed suit the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March.

The National Women’s History Alliance designates a yearly theme for Women's History Month. The 2022 theme is "Women Providing Healing, Promoting Hope." This theme is "both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history."

As I do every March I will be reading and reviewing many new books for Women's History Month. For years I have been reading and reviewing books about exceptional women and you can view these on my feature, Strong Girls, Strong Women on the TTLG website. 

There are wonderful listings for books about remarkable women all over the web. Here are a few sites that you might like to visit. Just click on the images above and below to visit the websites.

From the Imagination Soup website 

From the What Do We Do All Day website 

From the The Blog of Toledo Lucas County Public Library

A Review of She Persisted Around the World - Celebrating Strong Girls Strong Women

Not long ago I met a young woman who announced that she was not going to vote in the next election. I admit that I rather lost my temper. I proceeded to tell her how disappointed I was that she was throwing away all that our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers did to get men to treat them as equals. She said that none of that was relevant any longer. It is all "cool," I was told. I promptly lost my temper again and told her the story of a Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head because she defied those who wanted her to be silent about what was happening in her country. "What does that have to do with me?" she asked. I told her that she, and I, have to carry on the fight so that all women can get an education, can vote, can work where they want, and can get a fair wage. Our vote is one of the tools that we have to make this happen. Yes, I really got on my soapbox that day.

Today I bring you a review of a book in which we can read the stories of thirteen women and girls who were told "NO!" by the societies they lived in, and who said "YES!" in response.

She persisted Around the World: 13 Women who ChangedHistory

Chelsea Clinton

Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Penguin, 2018, 978-0-525-51699-6

Being a girl can be challenging no matter where you live in the world, but there are some places where it is particularly difficult. For example, for many of us going to school is something that we do without even thinking about it. It is a requirement, and we often consider it a bore. There are some countries where girls are not allowed to get an education, and for them this is a terrible deprivation; for without an education how can they get a job and live a life of their own choosing? How can they be financially self-sufficient and make their own choices?

   One such girl was Juana Ines who lived in Mexico at a time when most girls did not get to go to school. Juana wanted to learn, and so she studied at home. When she was told that she could not go to university she found people who were willing to tutor her. Juana went on to write poems and plays that are still read today, and she wrote a paper arguing that it is a women’s right to get an education in the Americas; the first of its kind to get published.

   In New Zealand Kate Shepphard was told that women are not suited to play a role in political decision making. She refused to accept this argument and fought hard to get women the vote in her homeland. Her hard work paid off, and in 1893 New Zealand was the first country in the world to give all women the right to vote.

   Sisleide Lima do Amor lived in Brazil and at that time it was actually illegal for girls to play soccer. Sissi desperately wanted to play, and so she did so in secret playing with anything that could be kicked across the ground. Eventually Sissi’s parents got her a proper ball to play with. Two years after the law was repealed, when she was fourteen, Sissi began to play professionally. She went on to become a soccer star and an inspiration for girl soccer players in Brazil and beyond.

   This splendid picture book presents readers with the stories of fourteen women and girls who insisted on pursuing their dreams, even when the societies that they lived in tried to deny them those dreams. Their stories are inspirational, and they give us a picture of how far we have come; and how far we still have to go to make sure that all women and girls are given the same opportunities that men and boys have.

  

A review of Aim for the skies - Celebrating Strong Girls, Strong Women

One of the things that I love about reviewing these Strong Girls, Strong Women books is the fact I am learning so much. When I first got today's book I had never heard of these two amazing women who, within days of each other, set out to fly solo around the world.It would appear that we are surrounded by the stories of women who did, and are doing, amazing things.

Aim for the skies: Jerrie Mock and Joan Merriam Smith'sRace to complete Amelia Earhart's Quest

Aimee Bissonette

Illustrated by Doris Ettlinger

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Sleeping Bear Press, 2018, 978-1-58536-381-0

Jerrie Mack is only seven years old when she takes her first ride in an airplane. She is so taken with the experience that she decides there and then that she is going to be pilot.

   Joan Merriam is fifteen when she takes her first plane ride in 1952. When the plane lands Joan tells her mother that she wants to learn how to fly a plane, and she ends up getting her pilot’s license before she even learns how to drive a car.

   Both women dream of becoming a record-breaking pilot like Amelia Earhart, and when Joan is twenty-three and Jerrie is thirty-seven they both decide that what they want to do next is to fly around the world.

   Jerrie and Joan set about preparing for their epic journeys. Maps have to be studied and flight plans have to be drawn up. Permission has to be granted by the governments of the countries that they will be visiting. The interesting thing is that the women do not know each other. Joan does not know what Jerrie is planning, and Jerrie has no idea what Joan is up to.

   Then, just a few weeks before they are supposed to set off on their epic flight, the women hear about each other. It looks as if their dreams to complete the journey that Amelia Earhart was not able to finish have been turned into a race.

   On March 17^th, 1964 Joan’s plane takes off from an airport in Oakland, California. Just two days later Jerrie takes to the skies. The women have different planes and they are taking different routes. Truly remarkable adventures that are full of problems and dangers lie ahead of them.

   This is the fascinating true story of two women who both greatly admired Amelia Earhart and who both decided, independently, to follow in the footsteps of the famous aviator. The narrative gives us a picture of what the two women were like, and we come to appreciate how difficult and dangerous their journey was. This story is a tribute to the two aviators, and it is also a tribute to the woman who inspired them.

A review of Lights! Camera! Alice! The Thrilling True Adventures of the first woman filmmaker - Celebrating Strong Girls Strong Women

Happy International Women's Day. Today I bring you a review of book that tells the story of an extraordinary woman. I confess that I had never heard of Alice Guy-Blache until I read this book. I was therefore delighted to learn that such a colorful and determined woman played such a big role in the early years of the moving picture industry.

Lights! Camera! Alice! The Thrilling True Adventures ofthe first woman filmmaker 

Mara Rockliff

Illustrated by Simona Ciraolo

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Chronicle, 2018, 978-1-4521-4134-3

When she was a little girl, Alice loved stories. She loved the tales that she found in the books that her papa sold, and the narratives that her grandmother and her nursemaid shared with her. Stories were the stuff of life and she could not wait “to find out what happened next.”

   Unfortunately for Alice, what happened next was not pleasant at all. Papa’s business failed, and then he died, leaving Alice in dire need of a job. She ended up getting a position at a camera shop, and through her job she found out about a new innovation: cameras that could create moving pictures. Alice and her employer went to see one of the new moving pictures and they were astounded by it, even though the subject matter of the film was not all that interesting. The young woman began to think that moving picture cameras might be “put to better use.” Why show mundane scenes in moving pictures when you could tell stories instead.

   Alice decided that she would try making some moving pictures of her own, and so she set about looking for costumes, she made sets, and found people to play the roles in the stories. At first her films’ sole purpose was to demo the cameras, but people liked her films so much that they were even willing to pay to see them.

   Alice’s films were full of clever innovations that made them interesting and engaging. She became so successful that her competitors spied on her to steal her ideas. Alice and her young cameraman decided to go to America, thinking that the country that epitomized innovation would be the perfect place to build a new life. Little did they know that no one had even heard of Alice on the other side of the Atlantic. Little did they know that both success and heartbreak awaited them in the land of opportunity.

   Most of us have never heard of Alice Guy-Blache and yet she was one of the first filmmakers in the world. She was also the first woman to make films, she made the first talking movie, and some even think that she was the first to make films that showed made up stories.

   As was so often the case at that time, being female meant that Alice did not get the recognition that she deserved. Thanks to this book a new generation of girls will grow up knowing that Alice was a tour de force in the early years of film making.

  

A perfect book for women's history month

March is Women's History Month and I have just reviewed a wonderful title about an exceptional woman who did something special with her life.

Look Up! Henrietta Leavitt,Pioneering Woman Astronomer

Robert Burleigh

Illustrated by Raul Colon

Nonfiction Picture Book

For ages 6 to 8

Simon and Schuster, 2013, 978-1-4169-5819-2

When Henrietta was a young girl, she spent many hours staring up into the night sky, looking at the stars and getting familiar with their patterns. She was fascinated by “the wonderful bigness of all she saw,” and longed to find out more about space.

   When she was a young woman, she attended astronomy class and was one of the few women who did so. After graduation, Henrietta was able to get a job working in an observatory. Though the observatory had a wonderful big telescope, Henrietta rarely got to use it. Instead, she worked with a group of women measuring and calculating, doing the job that calculators and computers do today. Henrietta and the other women were told to “work, not think,” but Henrietta wasn’t going to accept such an existence. She had an enquiring mind and intended to use it, which she did, studying astronomy in her space time.

   Day after day Henrietta looked at photographs of stars, measuring and counting, and then she began to notice that there was a pattern. Some of the stars seemed to get dimmer and then brighter. Some blinked slower than others. Henrietta studied the pattern and she mapped it out. The chart that she created helped astronomers to figure out how far away the stars were. Thanks to her work, they also came to realize that our Milky Way was a lot bigger than they thought and that it was only one of many galaxies. Her discovery would have a profound effect on our understanding of our universe.

   This wonderfully written book tells the story of a woman who lived at a time when women had very few opportunities to work as scientists. Indeed, most of the time they were prevented from doing research. Henrietta never gave up, and in the end her determination and hard work paid off.

   Throughout the book Robert Burleigh’s lyrical prose is paired with Paul Colon’s wonderful artwork to give readers a memorable picture book biography.  

   Further information about Henrietta, other women astrologers, and more can be found at the back of the book.

A review for Women's History Month - Fannie Farmer cooks up a storm

I read the book reviewed below many years ago, and yet I still remember it with great fondness. Reading the book reminded me that women have brought about change in many ways. Some have done so in big ways that made them front page news, like Amelia Earhart example. Then there are those women who have brought about change in big but quiet ways, like Fannie Farmer. I grew up with a Fannie Farmer cookbook and made my first very flat cake (I forgot to put in something vital) using one of her recipes. I know that when my daughter is ready is strike out on her own, I will give her (among other things) a set of basic tools in a tool box, a sewing kit, some wonderful fabrics for making cushions and curtains, a set of Jane Austen novels, and a Fannie Farmer cookbook.

Fannie in the Kitchen

Deborah Hopkinson

Pictures by Nancy Carpenter

Picture Book

Ages 5 to 7

Simon and Schuster, 2001, 0-689-81965-X

   Marcia is most annoyed. Her mother has told her that they are getting a new cook, someone who will be “mother’s helper.” Why should they need such a person when Marcia herself is her mother’s helper? Marcia sincerely hopes, therefore, that the new cook, Fannie Farmer, is going to be terrible. No such luck though. Fannie is an excellent cook, and she is soon teaching Marci some of her kitchen wisdom. It must be noted however that Marci does not always succeed in her culinary exploits and there are some food disasters which Fannie has to help her sort out.

   Not surprisingly Marcia finds herself getting very fond of Fannie, and since her mother is so busy with the new baby, the little girl spends a lot of time in the kitchen, watching and learning. Marcia wishes very much that she knew all of the wonderful cooking secrets that lie in Fannie’s head. When she tells Fannie this, the red-headed cooking wonder comes up with the idea of writing down all the things she knows in a book; the secrets, the tips, the recipes.

   Soon word gets around about the book that Fannie has created, and everyone wants to use it, not just Marcia. It would seem that Fannie Farmer has something very special to offer the world.

   Deborah Hopkinson has created a delicious story about a woman who changed the way thousands of women cook. Fannie made it possible for just about anyone to learn how to cook by developing the first real recipes with exact measurements of ingredients. Her book is still widely used today by cooks of all ages.

   At the back of the book the author gives us a more detailed biography of Fannie and she includes one of Fannie’s famous recipes.

   With great creativity the illustrator combines eighteenth century engravings and her own pen and ink and watercolor illustrations to create one of a kind artwork that gives the reader a sense of the times and that is visually intriguing and unique.

A review for Women's History Month and Youth Art Month

I found this book on my shelf this week and thought it would be a perfect fit both for Women's History Month and Youth Art Month. Enjoy!

Mary Cassatt: Impressionist Painter

Lois V. Harris

Nonfiction Picture Book

Ages 6 to 8

Pelican, 2007, 978-1-589-804-524

   When Mary Cassatt was still a young girl, she very much wanted to be a painter. Her parents, wanting to encourage their artistically inclined daughter, arranged for Mary to have art lessons. Little did they realize that their daughter intended to make a career for herself as a painter. At this time, in the 1800’s, very few women were professional artists, and Mary had to be very persuasive to get her parents to let her go to art school.

   After attending art school in Philadelphia for two years, Mary began to pester her parents to let her go to Europe to continue her studies. Her father was against the idea, but Mary’s mother thought that Mary should be allowed to go, and Mary was able to travel around France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium studying the works of the old masters.

   Back in Paris, one of Mary’s paintings was chosen to be shown at the Salon, a very prestigious art show. The career she had dreamed about was beginning at last.

   This beautifully presented picture book not only tells the story of Mary Cassatt’s life, but it also shows young readers how Mary was influenced by the French painters that she met. Readers will discover how Mary came to love the impressionist style of painting, and how she developed a style that bridged the old styles of painting and the new. Throughout the book, there are reproductions of art works that were created by Mary Cassatt and her contemporaries. 

Women's History Month - A review

March is Women's History Month in the USA and I have collected some wonderful books to share with you. I would like to begin with a splendid book that is not only fascinating and beautifully written, but that is also really lovely to look at.

Mermaid Queen: A True story

Shana Corey

Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

Nonfiction Picture Book

Ages 6 to 8

Scholastic, 2009, 9780439698351

   When Annette Kellerman was still very young, her legs developed a weakness and she had great difficulty walking. To help his daughter to get strong again, Annette’s father taught her how to swim, and he encouraged her to swim as much as she could. It wasn’t long before Annette was swimming very well, and soon she started to win races and break records.

   Annette had grown up watching people dance in her parent’s home, and she had always wanted to be able to dance with grace herself. In the water, she found a way to do be “beautiful and graceful and fancy-free.” She “whirled and twirled. She dipped and danced and dived.” Annette had created something new – water ballet.

   Annette was eager to share her love of swimming with others, and so she and her father left their home in Australia and traveled to London. The English were appalled at the idea of a girl swimmer performing in public. Annette decided that she needed to do something “drastic” to get them to pay attention to her, to get them to give her a chance. Annette had to “make waves.”

   This delightful true story is both interesting and inspiring. Young readers will come to appreciate the fact that the Annette Kellerman’s world was very different from the one that that we live in today. There were many things that girls were not allowed to do, and it took the courage of  women like Annette to challenge the ‘rules’ that everyone lived by.

   Throughout the book Shana Corey’s unique text is perfectly complimented by Edwin Fotheringham’s vintage looking illustrations. Readers will find more information about Annette in an author’s note at the back of the book. 

You can find many more titles that are suitable for Women's History Month on the TTLG website here. 

On this day: Nellie Bly ends her trip around the world

On this day in 1890 a young reporter ended an amazing journey around the world. Her name was Nellie Bly (her real name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran) and she was determined to prove that she could travel around the world in less than eighty days. People all over the world watched to see if this pretty young woman could break the record of Phileas Fogg, Jules Verne's ficticious character who traveled around the world in eighty days by boat and train in Verne's famous book Around the World in Eighty Days.
Nellie's journey began on November 14th, 1889, and it ended "seventy-two days, six hours, eleven minutes and fourteen seconds after her Hoboken departure."


I have read several books about Nellie and her incredible journey, and you can read my reviews here on Through the Looking Glass Book Review. 


You can find more information about Nellie Bly and her remarkable career here on Wikipedia. 

The new issue of Through the Looking Glass Book Review

March, with its tempramental weather and its promise of spring, is here. I had a great time putting together the new issue of Through the Looking Glass Book Review becasue I did a feature on Women in History. To be honest I often review books about strong fictional and factual women, but this month I made a point of finding books that would show my readers what women of all kinds have done to make the world a better place. Take a look at this feature to find books that are about women who were artists, musicians, scientists, and more. You can find more biographies about women in the biography feature section.

Spring officially begins on March 20th, and there are lots of books in the Spring Feature to choose from. Share some of these books with the children in your life and you will find that you will start to get a springish bounce in your step - even if it is snowing outside!

For those of you who like The Wind in the Willows, I have posted a profile about Kenneth Grahame, who wrote this splendid book. I try to read about Mole, Rat and Toad at least once a year. I find that this magical story grounds me and reminds me that the simple things in life really are the most important.

Other new items on the site are:

Publisher Spotlight: Charlesbridge - a splendid smaller publishing house that puts out some wonderful books including Jerry Pallotta's interesting and entertaining alphabet books.

Series Spotlight: The Thief Trilogy - a trio of stories that explore some of the most most important emotions that we humans struggle with. Beautiful writing combined with vivid characters makes this a winning series.

Don't forget to look at the Bookish Calendar and the Author/Illustrator birthdays as well.

A First Blog

Well, there is a first time for everything and today I am putting together my first blog. Funnily enough, even though I have been publishing a website for several years, I find this new form of communication rather intimidating. Who would have thought it! Since this my first attempt I hope you will be patient with me.

Workwise: The last days of the month approach and as always this is a stressful time because I have to get the new issue of Through The Looking Glass Book Review out. So far I have done seventy reviews and I hope to squeeze a few more out before posting day. For the March issue I put together a formidable collection of books about women of note - for the Women's History Month feature. I found so many splendid stories and I hope my reviews will encourage girls to read about the brave, bright, and determined women who have helped make the world a better, and more enjoyable place. One book was great fun. It was about the women and girls who were "Daredevils" in the late 1800's and early 1900's. They were shot from canons, rode high diving horses, walked on the wings of planes, and more.

Another book which I loved and which really shows readers what women have done to make life easier, happier, and safer for all of us is Rabble Rousers by Cheryl Harness. This is a marvellous title and I would have loved it even if I wasn't good friends with the author :-)

The other project this month which really delighted me was a feature on picture books which convey a meaningful message to their readers. I was very careful which books I selected to review and now feel I might have to extend the feature to another month because I found so many treasures on my shelves. I want to share all of them with my readers if I can read fast enough. The topics covered by the books are varied and sometimes very thought provoking.
A very exciting new development is that my new web guru (my first actually), Dune Thomas, is building a database for the website so things are going to change a lot on Looking Glass Review. I can't wait because my web building program is struggling to deal with the size of the site. The time has come for me to hand the site over to someone else to build. It feels very strange and I am still getting used to the idea.

On the personal front: My family and I are going skiing on Mount Shasta, CA on Thursday. My daughter Elise has the day off from school and Brian and I have arranged things so we can take the day off from work. I can't wait. The slopes are wonderful there and I have made a lot of progress improving my parallel turns.
The Holy Terrors, our two Siamese cats Suma and Sara, are wrecking havoc as usual. So far this week they have tipped over three potted plants and they broke a pretty blue glass vase that I got for Christmas. I was NOT pleased. They are also driving Reeka the dog crazy because they insist on playing with her tail. They adore our other dog Pippin and snuggle with him until he has to make a break for it. We are convinced that the cats think that they are dogs. They play with dog toys for hours and Sara is a great fetcher. Here is Sara sleeping with her tongue sticking out. Seeing her do this makes us laugh every time.
Don't be fooled by the sweet looking demeanor. She is a truly wicked little cat and yet I still adore her.