Whenever I'm feeling low or down, I buy a book as an instant and guaranteed pick-me-up. After a bit of a crap week, I did just that: three-fold (yes, this week was that bad). I bought Louise Greig's gorgeous The Night Box, (which has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2018, in the Illustarted Book category), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (because Oprah, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kahling are in the film adaptation out later this year and it is RIGHT up my street) and the highly anticipated Fantastically Great Women Who Made History by Kate Pankhurst (which you would have known if you had read the title...). VERY pleased with my purchases so I came straight home to begin reading. The other two books will be reviewed in good time. Well, not good time, but time. They will be reviewed in time.
Loving the blue cover. And my nail polish.
Fantastically Great Women Who Made History was published today and is actually the second non-fiction book from Kate Pankhurst (no relation to the other Pankhursts, as far as I am aware - but she does have a Dalmatian called Olive, so that's brilliant, thanks Wikipedia). I SHAMEFULLY have not read her first one yet, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, but after reading this one, it is at the top of my list.
The book is a gorgeous quality and generally well researched, although a little bare in places - for example, there is a two page spread of Pocahontas, and the only real mention of what Pocahontas did to qualify for the status of History-Maker is "helped grow the understanding that all people, no matter their culture, deserve respect and kindness" (hella true) but how????? Every other woman has a specific example of things that she did, so I think this is a bit of a shame, especially considering how a strong a woman Pocahontas was. Obviously within the context of a children's book, the exact circumstances Pocahontas was forced to endure should not be divulged, but I think it is very important to tell children that her people were mistreated and she suffered, but always remained brave. Also, I'm pretty sure that Pocahontas and John Rolfe married when they were in England, although the book suggests they travel to England as husband and wife. But this is my only fault with the whole book; the images and interactive elements are incredible.
It is also really lovely to see a range of professions or contributions: dancers, doctors, Pharaohs, etc. There are only three women born in the 20th century: Josephine Baker, Valentina Tereshkova and Noor Inyat Khan. The rest are spread across history, which is great to see because it shows that women have been defying expectations for centuries. Although maybe as an adult, that's really sad because it shows we still have a long way to go!
My favourite part of this book is something I have spoken about in other blog posts. No, not the witch thing, but word definitions. Squeal! At the back, the very last page (pictured), Pankhurst has given us/the children brief definitions of some words that may be confusing or need explaining for context purposes.
Squint, or buy the book.
Examples such as cabinet ministers and segregation allow children to quench that curiosity about the meaning of new words almost immediately, which is the best time to quench said thirst. I would say though, that I personally would have put a note about there being a glossary in the front spread, where we see all the illustrations of each of the women we are going to meet, so that readers know that if there is a word they are stuck on, it may be at the back of the book. I read the whole thing, then when I got to the end, I was like "Ooh yay! Glossary!". Luckily I knew what all of the words were (big girl) but a heads up that it was there, considering that there is no index at the front, would have gone down a storm.
Let's talk about representation!!
There are twelve women credited in this book to making history, which they all undeniably did, BUT, I do think we have a slight issue with representation. I won't detail all of the names, (anymore than I already have) because that's no fun for future readers, but half of the women in this book are white. Now, there is absolutely no denying that white women contributed significantly to the world we live in today. Many had to overcome poverty, gender prejudice etc., but it is also undeniable they have somewhat of an advantage in their race, and it's that lovely little term no one likes to talk about: white privilege. I personally do not like to type it because I always think there's a secret 'd' in there (priviledge), but that is neither here nor there. That being said, these are six well-chosen women, and not just the same few names that get thrown around all the time like Emmeline Pankhurst or Florence Nightingale. I hadn't heard of some of these women, which just goes to show that there is a seemingly unlimited wealth of female contribution! People such as cosmonaut (learned a fancy new word here too) Valentina Tereshkova and suffragette Flora Drummond (her name sounds familiar though, maybe I have just forgotten her from History AS level when we studied Female Suffrage) are incredible additions to the somewhat tired canon of female achievement.
The remaining six women are Black (2), Asian (2), North African (2) and Native American (1). Some may say that this representation is "better than nothing", but women of colour NEED AND DESERVE more representation: no questions asked. Children reading these books who look more like Qui Jin than Mary Wollstonecraft are going to look at these books and feel like the odds are stacked against them. Maybe I put too much pressure on children's books, but I do think that it is never a bad thing to see characters that reflect their audiences and show diversity. Also, I really would have liked to have seen a South American woman, like Frida or Dilma Rousseff. Let the record also show that I would not take any of the white women out, merely add more women of colour.
I'd love to see a 'Fantastically Great Women of Colour Who Made History' just because. It would be a beautiful edition if Kate Pankhurst or any other author (of colour logically!!?!) were to create it. I hope there are publishers out there dedicating books to minorities. Let us not forget why there is this emphasis on women and their achievements - women, in most walks of life, face oppression compared to men. So let's go through all of the -isms and show beautiful stories about people who were made to be silent, but weren't.
Absolutely gorgeous spread at the end of the book and what a lovely question to end with. My heart just bursts.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and LOVE Kate Pankhurst's illustrative style. The colours are so vibrant and fun, and each woman's thematic spread was really well thought-out and FANTASTICALLY executed. That being said, there are a few things I personally would have done differently with regards to the glossary and the women included. This does not really mean anything considering I am a random person with minimal publishing experience and zero children, but this was all my honest opinion.
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