May We Read Them

I've been thinking about this post for a bit now...almost a month.  March is National Women's History Month.  There is an expression, "Here's to strong women.  May we know them. May we be them. May we raise them."  I don't know from whence it originated so I apologize in advance for not attributing those wise words.  Earlier this month, a friend posted a link to an article along with "May we READ them." And being me, I got SO excited.  Then I followed the link.  And was a bit disappointed.  Here is the list, so you can decide for yourself: Authors Share Their Favorite Kids' Books About Girls Written By Women  Now, granted, these are submitted by authors, but this list struck me as...old.  And really, really white.  Granted, these are all great books and some are on the newer side, but there are SO MANY great books out there by female authors featuring strong female characters.  So...I made my own list.  These are all books I've read within the past year (according to GoodReads).  I highly recommend each of them and hope you can find something awesome to check out.

  

  

  

  

 

  

Give these fab female authors some love.  Some are authors of books listed above, and others are just authors I LOVE and want to share.  Enjoy!  And READ THEM.

Tracey Baptiste     Kelly Barnhill     Andrea Beaty     Ali Benjamin     

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley      Dori Hillestad Butler    Brandy Colbert     

Cressida Cowell     Kate DiCamillo     Shannon Hale     Jennifer Holm     

Erin Entrada Kelly     Jacqueline Kelly     Ingrid Law     Hilde Lysiak     

Kate Messner     Juana Martinez Neal     Katherine Paterson     

Celia C. Perez     Amy Krouse Rosenthal     Rachel Renee Russel     

Liesl Shurtliff     Laurel Snyder     Raina Telgemeier     Angie Thomas     

Renee Watson     Jennifer Weiner     Lauren Wolk     

Jacqueline Woodson     Nicola Yoon

Comment below with a favorite book featuring a strong female character by a fabulous female author.

Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire

In looking back at Disney films, you may notice a dramatic shift in use of color that seems jarring and it was (jarring) to the “Nine Old Men” who were approving work at that time and did not approve of the use of these bright and beautiful hues.  But that didn’t stop Mary Blair and once she got started, she didn’t stop.  Well, she did stop at Disney Studios when she felt she was not able to get her ideas from the page to the screen, but she came back and was commissioned to create a ride.  You may have heard of it (and never been able to get the song out of your head too…): It’s a Small World!  Mary traveled the world and collected images that she painted in bright colors and geometric patterns that she brought back to put together to create this ride that was a quick tour around the world showing all we have in common and our unique cultural differences.  Brigette Barrager does a beautiful job of bringing Mary’s colors and shapes to life on the pages of Pocket Full of Colors and Amy Guglielmo and Jacquline Tourville work together to tell the story of this remarkable woman in a world full of men, both at Disney and in advertising.  Mary Blair’s genius and modern art brought Disney into the next phase of imagineering.

Amy Guglielmo

@amyguglielmo

Jacqueline Tourville

@jatourville

http://brigetteb.com/

Title: Pocket Full of Colors: The Magical World of Mary Blair, Disney Artist Extraordinaire

Author: Amy Guglielmo and Jacqueline Tourville

Illustrator: Brigette Barrager

Published 2017 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 978-1-4814-6131-3

Long May She Wave: The True Story of Caroline Pickersgill and Her Star Spangled Creation

I sure do love me some block printing and Holly Berry is clearly a master.  The spread that references the “dawn’s early light” with the changing colors of sunrise on the black buildings is gorgeous and reminiscent of an etching process of putting black over another color and scratching through with a toothpick but to accomplish this effect with block printing is just beyond gorgeous.  Sources are included as is an Author’s Note and the full text (with four verses!?) of The Star-Spangled Banner.  Kristen Fulton does an excellent job of giving context to the lyrics of the poem, “Defense of Fort M’Henry,” penned by Alexander Scott Key through the eyes of seamstress, Caroline Pickersgill.

kristenfulton.com 

@kristenfulton

hollyberrydesign.com 

@hollyberrybooks

Title: Long May She Wave: The True Story of Caroline Pickersgill and Her Star Spangled Creation

Author: Kristen Fulton

Illustrator: Holly Berry

Published 2017 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

ISBN: 9781481460965

This book was borrowed from the public library for review purposes.

Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing

The day after reading “Margaret and the Moon”, I saw Lego is releasing a set of Women of NASA including Margaret Hamilton with her code.  Since I had read the book the night before, I made the connection between the female scientist and her huge pile of papers of code.  

That pile of code physically symbolizes (well it’s not a symbol, it’s the real deal) a human thinking about every possible eventuality related to a moon landing, and as it turned out Margaret had anticipated exactly what happened and programmed an override to take care of the problem.  Lucy Knisley’s illustrations match Dean Robbins’ storytelling of Margaret’s life perfectly and make her story accessible for all readers.  The author’s note gives further background and the bibliography and additional reading offer readers more options to learn more about Margaret and many of the people involved with the landing of Apollo 11.  Margaret’s story illustrates a message of perseverance and problem solving that inspires us all to reach for the stars and the moon.

deanrobbins.net

@DeanRobbins

lucyknisley.com 

@LucyKnisley

Title: Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing

Author: Dean Robbins

Illustrator: Lucy Knisley

Published 2017 by Alfred A. Knopf

ISBN: 978-0-399-55185-7

This book was borrowed from the public library for review purposes.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs/ Inequality

Similar to what Jacqueline Davies (author of Lemonade Wars) shared at a keynote address two years ago.  Her mother didn’t encourage her to read by reading to her.  In fact, she never read to her.  Instead, she read herself.  Making it appear (as it was) to be the most delicious escape activity there ever was.  By default, her children wanted to read too.  And there were books galore.  Ruth Bader Ginsburg grew up in a similar environment, one where her mother devoured books and they could have been about just about anything, if only she had grown up in a different time.  Thankfully, Ruth did grow up in a different time, but not different enough that her path would be without challenges, but they were surmountable and Ruth did whatever she had to do, including studying in the bathroom, lest she look “too smart.”  Later, she stood up for what she knew was right, including equal pay for equal work.  In the verdict of the book, Jonah Winter writes “…she did not give up…she refused to let other people define her limitations as a person.”

jonahwinter.com 

stacyinnerst.com 

@StacyInnerst

Title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs/ Inequality

Author: Jonah Winter

Illustrator: Stacy Innerst

Published 2017 by Abrams Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 978-1-4197-2559-3

This book was borrowed from the public library for review purposes.