Out of School and Into Nature: the Anna Comstock Story Written by Suzanne Slade

Out of School and Into Nature: the Anna Comstock Story

Written by Suzanne Slade & Illustrated by Jessica Lanan

Sleeping Bear Press. 2017

ISBN: 9781585369867

K - Grade 4

Note: Louise is writing all the reviews while Cathy is on sabbatical until February 2018.

This handsomely designed picture book biography of writer and scientist, Anna Comstock, is truly inspiring. The narrative is just the right mix of information that never falls flat in the telling.

“She loved to hold it close in her fingers, she wanted to feel it squish between her toes, which was why she ran barefoot all summer long, raised slimy tadpoles into pet

toads, and climbed tall trees instead of sitting in their shade.”

Born in 1854, Anna’s observational skills allowed her to discover nature’s secrets. From camouflage to pollination, Anna absorbed it all. She loved nature so much she decided to go to college to learn more of its secrets. Despite the fact that women were not encouraged to seek higher education, Anna attended Cornell University. 

After graduation, Comstock would go on to write and illustrate nine nature books and initiated a nature-study program for teachers in New York State through Cornell. 

Lanan's colorful, watercolor illustrations strengthens this book’s appeal, as does the added engravings of Anna Comstock's art. Quotes from Comstock are set off from the rest of the text in a larger font. 

Back matter includes an author's note and quote sources. 

Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Louise

Alice Paul and the Fight for Women’s Rights by Deborah Kops

Alice Paul and the Fight for Women’s Rights

by Deborah Kops

Calkins Creek. 2017

ISBN: 9781629793238

Grades 6-12

To write this review, I received an Advanced Uncorrected Proof from the publisher.

“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on         account of sex.”

On July 19-20, 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott was held in Seneca Falls, NY. At the convention, Stanton read from the “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions,” a statement of grievances and demands that called upon women to organize and to petition for their rights. The convention passed 12 resolutions, the ninth demanding the right for women to vote. This convention served to launch the women’s suffrage movement in the United States. Yet, despite the initial enthusiams, the woman suffrage movement languished into the doldrums until 1912, when a tiny woman with great energy, Alice Paul, became Chair of National American Woman Suffrage Association's congressional Committee (NAWSA).

Kop’s excellent book is the story of Alice Paul and her determination to keeping national attention on the woman suffrage movement. Born in Moorestown, New Jersey on January 11, 1885, Paul was the power behind the passing of the Nineteeth Amendment in 1919, which was ratified to the Constitution in March of 1920, allowing women the right to vote.

A force to be reckoned with, Paul would work until exhaustion and employed militant tactics that at times offended fellow suffragettes. When, in 1913, after orchestrating the first Senate debate on a woman suffragette amendment, “Paul asked a promising volunteer, “Can’t you stay on and help us with a hearing next week?”  The volunteered explained she planned to take a summer holiday with friends. “Holiday?” Paul repeated.” Ashamed, the young volunteer changed her mind and would remain working alongside Paul for many years. 

Paul was thoroughly committed to the equal rights for women, though she did shy away from including African American women. She willingly endured jail, hunger strikes, and being forced to eat by having “a doctor inserted a long tube through one of her nostrils into her stomach and poured milk and liquid food down the tube”, Paul never gave up. After the ratification of the Nineteethn Amendment - the Susan B. Anthony Amendment - Paul would go on to write the first draft of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and would spend the rest of her life trying to see it ratified to the Constitution. (To this day, the ERA is still short of being ratified to the Constitution by three States)

Relying heavily on primary sources, this engaging narrative is not a biography of Alice Paul, because she kept her private life private. Kop’s states in the Author’s Note, “No one had much luck uncovering what lay behind Paul’s public face, though, and for a simple reason: she did not want most people to know. She would happily talk with journalists at great length about the Susan B. Anthony Amendment (Nineteethn Amendment) and the Equal Rights Amendment, but she resisted talking about herself. And very few documents she left behind reveal her feelings.”  Instead, this is a wonderful story of Alice Paul and the history of women's rights. 

Back matter includes author's note, brief bios of important women mentioned in text, source notes, bibliography, and index.

Alice Paul's admirable perseverance and indomitable spirit, who gave her whole life to the cause of a woman’s right for equality is a wonderful role model for all of us.

More about Deborah Cops, go here.

 Other books to include on a display: Around American to Win the Vote: two suffragists, a kitten, and 10,000 miles by Mara Rockliff; Illustrated by Hadley Hooper, Let Me Play: the story of Title IX: the law that changed the future of girls in America by Karen Blumenthal

Martina & Chrissie by Phil Bildner

Martina & Chrissie: the Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports

by Phil Bildner; Illustrated by Brett Helquist

Candlewick. 2017

ISBN: 9780763673086

Grades 2-5

To review this book, I received a copy from the publisher

“Hey, guys —

yeah, I’m talking to you.

You see those two names on the cover?

Martina and Chrissie?

That’s Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.

You know who they are, right? No?

NO?!

Wow, okay.”

And so begins this exciting informational picture book, a duel biography, of how two women of equal talent, tennis stars from the mid-1970’s till 1990, though they did play against each other refused to be rivals. Instead…they remained friends. 

Bildner’s casual tone conveys great excitement as he explains to readers how Chris Evert, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Martina Navratilova, from Revnice, Czechoslovakia “were the greatest rivals in the history of sports. ALL SPORTS.”  

Chrissie was all technique. She was poised, had precision and was in great shape. Martina, had a lefty serve, loved to rush the net and at first was very out of shape. Where Chrissie was calm, Martina was all emotion. They became friends and enjoyed competing against each other. "After awhile, Martina got tired of all that losing." She got a new coach and got in shape. She started winning. Martina's new coach didn't allow her players to be friends with their rivals. Coach wanted her players to "hate their opponents. Like enemies." 

Bildner plays off the rivalry between Chrissie and Martina with the conflict going on between the US and Russia at that time. The Cold War.

Helquist’s illustrations, rendered in acrylic and oil on paper, artfully filling every inch of the pages. Evert & Navratilova, fierce and determined while on the court, are seen smiling when hanging out as friends. 

Sure, if you go by the numbers, then yes, Martina had more wins. But, that’s not the story Bildner wants to tell. Nope. The story is this: these two tennis stars were great because they were friends and helped each other be the best they could be.  “Because they played together, they became the best, equal parts of the greatest rivalry in the history of sports.”

Back matter includes a timeline with more facts about Chrissie and Martina’s games. Sources include books, articles, some audiovisual materials, and websites.

Just in time for Women’s History Month, this is a great book to share with all students.

Posted by Louise

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909

By Michelle Markel; Pictures by Melissa Sweet

Balzer + Bray (an imprint of HarperCollins) 2013

ISBN: 978-0-06-1804427

Grades 2 and up

I used a copy from the public library for this review

In 1909, thousands of young women, many just twelve years old, streamed from factories to strike. One young woman, Clara Lemlich, was their leader. In Brave Girl, Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers’ Strike of 1909 Michelle Markel celebrates how Clara stood up for what she believed was right and set in motion a strike that would make conditions better for garment workers in NYC and throughout the United States. 

This book tells the true story of Clara Lemlich, a Jewish immigrant who came to America to flee persecution in Eastern Europe. After moving with her family into the tenements in NYC, no one will hire Clara’s father. They will, however, hire Clara. Like thousand of other immigrant girls, Clara becomes a garment worker. They earn a few dollars a month, but it helps pay for food and rent. So instead of carrying books to school, many girls carry sewing machines to work. This was not the America Clara had imagined. Fed up with the horrible working conditions (Has everyone read Lyddie by Katherine Paterson, Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix, or Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully?) Clara begins speaking out, urging her fellow workers to team up and join a union. When she spoke out against the factory owners, Clara was beaten, arrested seventeen times, and had six ribs broken, but they can’t break her spirit.

Maine artist, Melissa Sweet, uses watercolor, gouache, and mixed media to create the paintings used in this book. Sweet frames each illustration to give the impression we are looking through a scrapbook, seeing snapshots of Clara’s life. They capture Clara’s determination and reflect the spirit of the thousands of women who stuck together to make their lives a bit better. There is one quite stunning illustration that allows us to look down on rows and rows of young women bent over their sewing tables. It gives one the perspective of how cramped their working conditions were. 

The combination of text and illustrations work together to make Brave Girl a must read for those in grades 5 and up. An author’s note give more back story about the garment industry, and the bibliography lists general and primary sources.

Brave Girl is a very powerful story. When addressing older students, use it to explain the benefits of Unions, the horrors of sweatshops in other countries, and how they -- the students -- can make a difference. 

Highly recommended.

To see selected pages from this book, go here.
For more books celebrating Women's History Month, go to Kidlit.

To learn more about women leadership, go here.

From the Backlist: The Mermaid Queen and other titles for Women's History Month

Mermaid Queen: The Spectacular True Story of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way to Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History!
by Shana Corey
illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham
Scholastic Press, 2009
ISBN: 9780439698351
Grades: K-5

The reviewer borrowed a copy of the book from her school library.

Each month we'll be visiting nonfiction titles from past as part of our "From the Backlist" series. (The backlist is publishing term for books published in previous years.)

This month is we're celebrating Women's History Month, and one of my favorite picture book biographies is Mermaid Queen. This book is full of kid appeal! Corey eloquently tells the story of Annette Kellerman, a woman who made swimming for pleasure and fitness acceptable for women at the turn of the last century. Kellerman began swimming to strengthen her legs when she was a child. Swimming made her strong, and she loved it. Kellerman enjoyed swimming, diving and showing girls they could be athletes, too. People were shocked when she attempted to swim the English Channel, and she stunned Americans with her athletic bathing suit that showed off her legs. Kellerman's amazing life story coupled with Corey's narrative style and rich word choice make this a perfect book to read aloud.

"When she wasn't racing, she daydreamed about the ballerinas she'd loved as a little girl. She whirled and twirled, She dipped and danced and dived. No was was sure exactly what she was doing, but Annette didn't care one bit. She loved her new invention. It wasn't quite water ballet, and it wasn't quite swimming- it was water ballet!"

Bold computer illustrations will delight readers. Splashes of water in bright blue and orange are used in backgrounds and as frames around illustrations. An author's note give provides readers with further information about Kellerman. It's evident from the source notes that Corey did extensive research when writing the book. Not only is this book fun to read aloud to children, it's also important to show them how far we have evolved as a society. The next time kids see women swimming in the Olympics, they'll think of Annette Kellerman, the Mermaid Queen.

Be sure to visit the Kidlit Celebrates Women's History blog for articles and book reviews by a variety of kidlit authors and bloggers: http://kidlitwhm.blogspot.com/

Here are some other excellent books to share with children during Women's History Month (with links to our reviews). 

Here Come the Girl Scouts!

by Shana Corey, illustrated by Hadley Hooper

In the Bag!: Margaret Knight Wraps It Up

by Monica Kulling, illustrated by David Parkins

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

by Claire A. Nivola

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

by Jan Pinborough, illustrated by Debby Atwell

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda

by Alicia Potter, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero

by Melissa Moss, illustrated by John Hendrix

Elizabeth Leads the Way

by Tanya Lee Stone, illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon

Women's History Month

Today, the Nonfiction Detectives posted over at KidLit as Margo and Lisa celebrated Women's History throughout the month.  Thank you for including us.