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

Happy March!

"March was an unpredictable month, when it was never clear what might happen. Warm days raised hopes until ice and grey skies shut over the town again." 

- Tracy Chevalier

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." 
- Charles Dickens

"By March, the worst of the winter would be over. The snow would thaw, the rivers begin to run and the world would wake into itself again." 

-Neil Gaiman

Happy March to you all. Here in the Pacific Northwest we are desperately hoping that this month, and our spring, will be wet. We have barely had any rain for more than a month and everything is dry as dry. So, although I like to see Pooh taking his pleasant amble under a blue sky as the countryside starts turning green again, I rather prefer seeing Christopher Robin measuring the level of rainwater and rain pours down and taps on his nice, large, black umbrella. 

Black History Month - Celebrating African-American Inventors

Clockwise from top left: Benjamin Banneker, Madame C.J. Walker, George Washington Carver,
Dr. Shirley Jackson, and  Dr. Daniel Hale Williams.

There are so many things that we take for granted. We eat our potato chips, drive safely on roads thanks to traffic lights, eat food that has been transported long distances in refrigerated trucks, travel in elevators, and turn on our home security systems without once thinking about the men and women who thought up these inventions. Every single one of these innovations came into the world because of the genius of an African American inventor. Indeed, so many of the things that we use every day were invented by African American inventors whom we have never even heard of. 

There are a few books on the subject that you might looking at:

African American Inventors by Otha Richard Sullivan

What Color Is My World?: The Lost History of African-American Inventors by Raymond Obstfeld and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 

African-American Inventions That Changed The World: Influential Inventors and Their Revolutionary Creations by Michael A. Carson

Black History Month - The story of a brilliant African American inventor

One of the things I love about reviewing nonfiction children's literature is that I learn a lot. When I started reviewing titles for Black History Month I got to 'meet' so many wonderful men and women of African descent who stories are inspiring. I saw how many of these stories never ended up in history books, and I like to do my part to set the record straight in my own small way. African Americans, and other people of African descent around the world, have made enormous contributions to society, and we need to learn about their achievements about the honor them. 

Today you are going to meet an African American inventor who created many useful things in his productive life. One of these inventions, in particular, saved lives. 

To the Rescue: Garrett Morgan Underground 

Monica Kulling

Illustrated by David Parkins

Non-Fiction Picture Book

For ages 5 to 7

Tundra Books, 2017, 978-1-101-91882-1

Garrett Morgan was the seventh child of former slaves who lived in Kentucky and worked as sharecroppers. It was a hard life, and when it was time for Garrett to leave school so that he could get a job, the fourteen year old decided to travel north to Cleveland, Ohio, to see if he could find a job that was less unremitting. 

   Garrett started out sweeping floors in a clothing factory but he did not keep that job for long. When he noticed that the sewing machine belts were always breaking he invented a belt that was stronger, and thus he earned him his employer’s gratitude and a new job as a sewing machine repairman. 

   This new job served Garrett well and by the time he was twenty-one he owned his own sewing machine shop, and a house. He and his wife, Mary Anne, then opened a tailoring shop as well. 

  Garrett had a gift for inventing. Quite by accident he created a hair product that straightened curly hair. This invention led to him creating a new business, the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company. The success of his cream and other hair products gave Garrett the financial freedom to spend more of his time inventing.

   When Garrett saw a need he set about trying to create a product that would take care of that need. He saw that firefighters required some kind of device that would help them rescue people from smoke-filled buildings, and so he invented the Safety Hood and Smoke Protector. 

   Though his invention worked well, Garrett could not get the local fire departments interested in the hood, because Garrett was African-American. Then a disaster struck the city which changed Garrett’s life forever.

   All too often black inventors and innovators are not given credit for their creations. In this book Monica Kulling tells the story of an inventor whose inventions literally saved lives. Her engaging writing brings Garrett Morgan to life for young readers, and David Parkins’ ink and watercolor illustrations takes children back to a time when everyday life was a lot more dangerous than it is now.

The Bookish Calendar for March - Books for March birthdays, holidays, and special days

 

Dear Bookish Friends,

Here is the Bookish Calendar for March. I'm bringing it to you today so that you have plenty of time to plan for days that interest you and the children in your lives. Many of the birthdays and special days on the calendar link to review pages for books that are associated with those birthdays and special days. For example, March third is the birthday of Alexander Graham Bell, and I have reviewed several books about this remarkable inventor. If you click his name on the March Bookish Calendar you will be taken to the page where these reviews can be found. 

March is Women's History Month

March is National Craft Month (USA)

March 2nd is National Read Across America Day

March 3rd is World Wildlife Day You can find many books suitable for this day here.

March 3rd is World Book Day (UK and Ireland)

March 8th is International Women's Day

March 19th is International Read to Me Day

Match 20th is the Spring Equinox

March 20th is World Storytelling Day

March 20th is International Day of Happiness

March 21st is World Poetry Day

March 21st is International Day of Forests

March 22nd is World Water Day

March 23 is National Puppy Day (USA)

March 25 National Tolkien Reading Day (USA)

March 26th is Make up your own holiday day (USA)

March 27th is World Theatre Day

March 28th Earth Hour

Book Hoarding? What's that?

Dragon: Do humans hoard things? 

Human: Sometimes, I guess. Do you have a big pile of treasure somewhere? 

Dragon: Absolutely not! Those gold hoarding dragons really give us a bad name! 

Human: So what do you hoard? 

Dragon: Books, of course

Human: But you're a fire dragon. 

Dragon: I know! I find these poor abandoned books, but I can't even read them because I'll burn them

The human runs off and grabs an armful of books, before coming back to sit by the dragon.

Human: "Chapter One. The Mole had been working hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and splashes of whitewash over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above, below, and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.”

Newsletters from Groundwood Books for Educators, Librarians, and Parents

My friends at Groundwood Books, a marvelous publishing house based in Canada, have a new program that I'd like to tell you about. The Groundwood Newsletters are designed to provide educators, librarians, and parents with strategies, tips and information to accompany fiction and non-fiction Groundwood books. 

Each newsletter is centered on a single topic, theme or genre with a list of recommended titles that will encourage young readers to explore and engage with the theme. The series will include lots of great resources such as reading, writing, arts and media responses; a spotlight feature on a Groundwood author/illustrator; a curated book list with brief annotations; and additional links to the Groundwood website for more book information and/or teacher guides. They are written specifically for teachers by a well-known academic and children’s lit specialist.  The series of five newsletters will be distributed once a month but late subscribers will have access to any of the newsletters already delivered.

The theme for the January Newsletter was Exploring Acceptance, Belonging, and Community through Picture Books. The Groundwood picture book titles featured in the newsletter focused on such matters as race and ethnicity, gender identity, the immigrant experience and bullying. When listening to these

books being read aloud, or when reading these books independently, students can be inspired to

confront intolerance and foster a sense of inclusion. In this way, the titles encourage students to

think about acceptance, belonging and community. 

You can sign up for the newsletters HERE
 

The 2021 Caldecott Award Winning Picture Book - Watercress

When I was six years old my parents and I, along with my aunt, some friends, and our pets, left the only home I had ever known. A civil war had been raging in the country where I was born and we had no choice but to leave. We left behind our house, most of what we owned, many of our friends, and the graves of loved ones who had been killed in the conflict. Even now, all these years later, the clouds of my refugee and immigrant memories still drift across my sky once in a while. 

The book I am reviewing today won the prestigious Caldecott Award on January the twenty-fourth of this year. It is a powerful and beautifully illustrated story about a child whose parents had to leave their homeland when their lives there became unbearable. She feels no connection with her parents' homeland, and she does not know their story until the day when the past reaches into the present. 

Watercress

Andrea Wang

Illustrated by Jason Chin

Picture Book

For ages 5 and up

Holiday House, 2021, 978-0823446247

One day an old, faded car containing a girl and her family is driving down a dirt road that is lined with rows of corn. Between the edge of the road and the corn fields there is a ditch full of water. The mother has “eyes as sharp as the tip of a dragon’s claw,” and she sees something in the ditch. She calls out and her husband slams on the brakes. 

   Wild watercress is growing in the ditch and soon the girl, her brother, and their parents are in the ditch. With rolled up trousers and bare feet they walk through the cold water, mud squishing between their toes, cutting the watercress. When a car drives by the girl hides her face, ashamed of what they are doing. American people would never gather watercress in a ditch, but the girl’s parents were born in China, and for them being able to collect watercress to eat connects them to their homeland and their past.

   Back at home the girl refuses to eat the watercress that her mother serves with dinner. As far as she is concerned eating free food is just as shameful as wearing hand-me-down clothes, and taking furniture that other people have thrown away on the side of the road. 

   Then the girl’s mother brings out a photograph to show her daughter. It is portrait of the mother with her parents and her little brother. She begins to tell the story of her family, a story that is threaded with pained and loss.

   All over there world people leave their homelands to start new lives elsewhere, driven away by war, famine, persecution, or a natural disaster. This story is based on an event that took place in the author’s life. When she was a child her Chinese immigrant parents collected watercress from a roadside ditch, and their behavior only reinforced for her that she was different. Being different can be hard for children, and they often fervently wish that they could be like everyone else and fit in.

   With great sensitivity and gentle touches of emotion, the author tells a story that is dear to her heart. It is a story that will resonate with anyone who has felt as if they don’t belong, and it is also a tender tribute to all those families who have had to start over in a new place or foreign land. 

   Jason Chin’s art perfectly complements Andrea’s lyrical text. His watercolors bring together the traditions of western and Chinese art, beautifully connecting the past with the present.