Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!
Nonfiction picture books about three women for Women’s History Month!
Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen surprised me. Why would an elementary student be interested in Jane Austen? But Deborah Hopkinson convinced me with her sweet biography that focuses on how very ordinary Jane was, and yet able to develop her talent in an extraordinary way by observing, reading, and writing, writing, writing. It’s a heartening story for those of us who also feel ordinary.
The back matter includes a short summary of each of Austen’s novels (a good idea since I don’t think many children have read her yet!) and famous quotes from each book, as well as places to learn more about Jane Austen. The illustrations are charming and accessible, and the endpapers are the sweetes pink of the year.
Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen by Deborah Hopkinson, illustrated by Qi Leng. Balzer + Bray: 2018.
A Lady Has the Floor tells the inspiring story of Belva Lockwood, who started out as an educator who reformed the schools she worked in so that girls got to have the same experiences as boys–public speaking, physical activities. She then broke down gender barriers to attend law school, and was the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court. As if that weren’t enough barrier breaking, she next became the first woman to run for president, even before women had the right to vote. She said, “I cannot vote, but I can be voted for.”
The back matter for this book about a trailblazer includes a detailed timeline that includes events that happened after her death but are arguably her legacy. I loved that it included source notes for all the quotations in the book. The art was made with a crackle varnish that gives all the pictures an old-timey feeling.
A Lady Has the Floor: Belva Lockwood Speaks Out for Women’s Rights by Kate Hannigan, illustrated by Alison Jay. Calkins Creek: 2018.
I wasn’t sure who Lil Hardin Armstrong was when I read the subtitle of Born to Swing. Louis Armstrong’s daughter? His sister? I was surprised to learn that she was his wife, and much more famous than him at first. The back matter includes a telling quote from a 1925 newspaper: “Louis Armstrong. Who is he?…Louis is the feature man in Lil’s jazz band at the Dreamland.” This lively biography tells the story of how Lil moved from the church music that her mother approved of to the jazz that she adored. The book is written in first person. Mara Rockliff explains why she chose first person:
Since Lil never got to tell her own story, I tried to tell it as she might have chosen to. I used many of her own words from the interviews she gave over the years. Like all stories told aloud, lil’s stories changed a little every time she told them. Sometimes she even bent the truth a bit. Reading what other people said about her helped me bend it back.
Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong’s Life in Jazz by Mara Rockliff, illustrated by Michele Wood. Calkins Creek: 2018.
If you’re also reading Girl Running for Women’s History Month, I’d love it if you’d post a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Those reviews help authors a lot! Thanks.
Alabama Spitfire tells the story of Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Roughly the first third of the story tells about her childhood. It does a good job of contextualizing the segregated town she lived in and devotes a lot of time to her friendship with–and spirited defense of!–Truman Capote.
