non-fiction

non fiction ; nonfiction ; non-fiction

Positively Teenage by Nicola Morgan

positively teenageI often find that nonfiction books about the teenage years are coated in a light film of negativity. From titles such as ‘What’s Happening to My Body?’ as if maybe an alien force has invaded and implanted, or ‘Survival Guides to the Teenage Years’ as if it’s a time of nuclear holocaust. There’s no doubt that one of my favourite things as a teen was to read the ‘problem pages’ in the magazines, but it’s good to finally realise that we shouldn’t be dealing with teenagers as ‘problematic’, but addressing these years with positivity.

Nicola Morgan has been writing about teens for a long time, winning the School Library Association Information Book Award in 2015 for The Teenage Guide to Stress.

But for many parents, especially those parents who have children just approaching the teenage years, they want a book that doesn’t scream ‘stress, bullies, or problems’ on their cover in reference to teens. It would be better to have something that promotes the empowerment that comes from becoming a teenager – the uplifting moments, the maturation, the joyfulness. That’s not to say there aren’t issues – but they can be dealt with in a calm manner, and Nicola Morgan has acknowledged this in her knowledgeable guide, Positively Teenage, which contains some excellent ideas, as well as an assortment of easy-to-comprehend scientific facts and data thrown in – aimed at the kids themselves, but useful for adults to dip into too.

Morgan has based the premise of the book around the principles in the word FLOURISH – Food, Liquid, Oxygen, Use, Relaxation, Interest, Sleep and Happiness. The only slightly ambiguous word here is ‘use’, by which she means using all areas of the brain for a wealth of activities.

The book guides the reader gently through each area, with the book divided into sections such as Positively You, A Positive Attitude, A Positive Mood etc. The headings encompass large ideas, but actually the text itself is broken down well and is easily digestible. In each section there are paragraphs of text, with emboldened headings, some bullet points etc, but also quizzes to answer questions about yourself (you know, the type of thing they used to have in teen magazines, which were always such fun), a host of weblinks and further research, but also lots of good neuroscience explained pitch perfectly.

Morgan traverses the terrain between general things that are applicable to every generation, such as recognising character strengths including gratitude, honesty, forgiveness and so on, with an acute awareness of modern concerns, such as doctored internet pictures, controlling screen use, mindfulness and what neuroscientists have recently discovered about the difference between the teen brain and the adult brain, in terms of need for sleep, taking risks, temptations, emotions and more.

There are sections on building a growth mindset, developing resilience, eating correctly, sleeping well, exercise, and developing interests and hobbies, as well as cultivating a decent personality – in terms of being grateful for what you have, understanding and tolerating others’ differences and opportunities, helping others, trust and friendship. There’s even a section on reading for pleasure!

One of the aspects I like best is how Morgan suggests the many areas over which teens have control, and suggests taking responsibility for them, (which helps to reduce stress and conflict). We’d all do well to take the advice.

The only slight negatives I could find are that the diet suggestions feel very Western in content, and there’s always a worry that web links printed in books go out of date – whereas lots of the text advice doesn’t date. Morgan also suggests visiting a library to find out about community classes etc, but sadly, many teens will now find a library hard to access.

There are no swishy graphics here – which the book doesn’t need. It’s a handy paperback size for slipping into a large pocket or small bag, and the information feels compact, and yet full.

This is generally a really positive book that I’m happy to push into the hand of any pre-teen in expectation for the great years that they have ahead of them. As Morgan herself says: “The more we know of how we work, the better we can make ourselves work.” With this book, teens will have the knowledge and tools to be the best person they can be. You can pre-order it here. The book publishes on 24 May 2018.

First Day of Spring

This week heralds the official first day of Spring, apparently named because in the 14th century ‘springing time’ was a reference to the time of year when plants were ‘springing’ from the ground. And so, a few nature books for you, to usher in the return of migratory birds and draw inspiration from the natural world.

bird houseBird House by Libby Walden, illustrated by Clover Robin
Beautifully designed, with lift-the-flap features, this is a perfect first nature book for little hands. Adorably shaped like a house, the book endeavours to teach about different bird species and their homes. The first page deals with ducks, and man-made duck houses, but also features nests, and gives the names for male and female ducks, groups and babies.

The book goes on to cover pigeons and doves, woodpeckers, swallows, sparrows and owls, with hints at the back for how to create a bird-friendly outdoors space. The book is as sturdy as you’d want a bird house to be, with earthy colours throughout, and much green. The illustrations are cartoon-like rather than anatomical, but layered with wonderful textures, and give a true indication of colouring.

Also available is Bug Hotel, with facts about favourite garden insects and instructions for building your own bug hotel. An attractive, lively and informative start for young readers. You can buy it here.

 

 

earth verseEarth Verse by Sally M Walker and William Grill
Something completely different in this stunning picture book that tells the story of the Earth through poetry and illustration.

A haiku on each page simply suggests the beauty and majesty of the planet we live on, starting with a pulled-back image of the Earth as seen from space, with swirling blue and white. The book progresses through a host of illustrations that draw near or zoom out – from the outer crust to layered sediment, huge cliffs and fossil finds, to small flowers perched upon sand dunes.

Each has a concentrated description in this briefest form of poetry, and each illustration in coloured pencil is an impression rather than a factual diagram – a brushstroke of nature. It suits the poetry, which aims to inspire and to emote, (with further reading resources given at the back). The illustrations also suit the sensibility of the book, which is child-friendly and dreamlike in tone.

Colours stream throughout the book – blue to start as we see the planet from space, startling red for fire, then stripes of wonder as the rocks shift and layer with sediment.

The words resound with magnitude, as Walker gallops through dramatic natural events – a volcano, a tsunami, a storm – showing the violence and force, as well as the calm of a gull wearing ‘sand socks’ as it leaves footprints across the shore.

Walker uses personification to bring the haikus close to readers – the intimacy of the fiery fingers, the tiptoes of the creatures. The hotheaded mountain throwing an igneous tantrum. The words and images are both appealing and familiar.

And together Grill and Walker add elements of where there is an Intersection of human involvement in nature, an interaction with our planet.

There are also pages of prose information at the back; the reader is guided to these by a visual key of nine symbols, including minerals, fossils, glaciers, groundwater. These full paragraphs explain their topic well, but the diagrams accompanying are unlabelled and therefore tricky for a novice to decipher.

One for inspiration and awe. 8+ years. You can buy it here.

treesWhat On Earth? Trees by Kevin Warwick and Pau Morgan
For full-on, comprehensive knowledge, What On Earth? is an immensely high quality non-fiction series. This particular book covers all aspects of trees (for the very young), and also ties the basic scientific knowledge into hands-on activities, as well as interconnecting it with culture and history – something for which cross-curricular teachers will be grateful.

The first section takes a look at the different parts of a tree – with an in-depth look at leaves and their shapes and sizes, followed by information spreads on seeds and dispersal, needles and trunks. Interspersed between the information pages are spreads labelled ‘investigate’ or ‘create’ and these contain activities. Both artistic – creating a tree on paper using fallen leaves, to scientific – testing how far seeds travel – there is something for everyone.

The ideas are simply explained and easy to execute, but inspirational and fun. Drawing in other cultures and their stories adds a new dynamic, and of course there is the requisite section on global warming and the effect upon trees.

The digital illustrations are colourful, bright and friendly, and encourage the reader to really engage with the natural world, looking at what grows around them and giving clear step-by-step guidance on the activity spreads. The book will not only teach about trees, but about how to conduct first scientific experiments of exploration and investigation.

There’s an easy conclusion to draw here – this is a fantastic piece of non-fiction in which every page earns its worth – the tree this book originated from would be proud! 6+ years. Buy your own here.

How Does a Lighthouse Work? By Roman Belyaev

how does a lighthouse workDo all children have a fascination with lighthouses? Is it the Rapunzel-esque structure – that tall cylindrical height forging above the wild whipping waves? Or perhaps the power of the light beam, stretching for miles across a wide expansive sea? Or the image of the lighthouse keeper him or herself, spending long lonely hours tramping up and down the spiralling stairs, polishing the glass and ensuring safety for all who travel near? From the picturebook series The Lighthouse Keeper by Ronda and David Armitage, to Emma Carroll’s Letters from the Lighthouse, to more grown up fiction by Sarah Moss (Signs for Lost Children and its protagonist, the wonderfully contained Tom Cavendish) to The Light Between the Oceans by ME Stedman, the romanticism of the lighthouse has never been far from fiction.

But what about non-fiction? This book, which I predict to sweep awards, sits perfectly with its fine balance of teaching the science behind the lighthouse, and appealing to the romanticism at the core. Full-colour illustrations, (with a nod to William Grill in the small differentiated drawings of different kinds of lighthouses, lamps and sounds), lend a narrative arc to the information. The reader is part of a group of children on a school trip being taught about lighthouses. The illustrations, in coloured tones of lighthouse red, sea blue and oilskin yellow traverse the lighthouse scene, giving the reader different perspectives – at a distance, a cross-section, from the top deck (complete with girl steaming up the glass with her breath), and from out at sea.

Inspiring both emerging architects and budding scientists, the narrative aims to decipher the beating heart of the lighthouse, from the way it works on the most basic scientific level, to the question of why there are different types of lighthouses, to the role of the keeper.

Impressed and intrigued, I learnt as much about a lighthouse as if I had been on a tour to a real one (I’m still waiting to experience that). Each spread poses a question (as if from a child on tour), and it is answered astutely, clearly, succinctly. The text is easy to understand, accessible and fascinating. I learnt about the Fresnel lens, the distance light can travel, the strategic positioning of lighthouses, their history (even the Roman coin on which the lighthouse at ancient Alexandria is shown), structure, and what happens in fog. Impressively, Roman Belyaev seems to have covered every angle (no pun intended), from what people did before lighthouses to a lighthouse keeper’s log book, and the colours with which lighthouses are painted.

At the end, Roman Belyaev invites the reader to design their own, presumably based on everything they’ve learnt, but with terrific guidelines. Like a magazine quiz, the reader has to consider where they are building it, its height and shape, its design and pattern.

This is a book that profiles STEM and engineering with a real-world application. But not only that, it does it clearly and precisely with a particular kind of beauty and lustre to the illustrations. Far more accessible than most lighthouses, and brilliantly translated from the Russian with the help of Masha Kulikova, this book’s beam of knowledge should stretch across the widest seas.

You can buy it here.

Alphabets: A Guest Blog by Allan Sanders

alphabet of alphabetsCertain picture books stand out in the library as being favourites for free-reading time. They happen to all have something in common – their interactive ‘search and find’ functions. Where’s Wally, You Choose – any book that invites the reader to look carefully for something, count it, or make a decision, provokes discussion and sustained reading.

Search-And-Find Alphabet of Alphabets by Allan Sanders is new, fresh and exciting, and lends itself both to pictorial and wordplay; sometimes the alphabetised pages feature both a picture search and a word search. The illustrations are cartoon-like, with a nod to Scheffler in the anthropomorphic animals, and the vocabulary is stretching – this is not for babies, with words such as numbat, kinetoscope, hieroglyphics and limousine. Good for honing observation skills, and of course, for logophiles.

Below, Allan Sanders explains how he came to make the book, and how he managed to cheat a little with the difficult letters, but mainly, for MinervaReads, how he designed the letter M.

Amanda Wood and Mike Jolley are the brains behind The Alphabet of Alphabets. When they approached me with the idea for the book, I knew immediately it would be a great project. Mandy and Mike have made some great books together, so I jumped at the chance to work with them and Wide Eyed Editions.

The idea for The Alphabet of Alphabets is quite simple – 26 illustrated alphabets from A-Z.  A is for Alphabet, B is for Birds, C is for Creepy-crawlies, and so on. Within each alphabet there’s a whole other alphabet of things to find. On D is for Dinosaurs there is an A to Z of dinosaurs from Apatosaurus to Zuniceratops. On I for Inventions, you have to find everything from an Abacus to a Zeppelin. With 26 different alphabets, our book has got over 600 words to find!

The first stage in making an alphabet for each letter was to agree on a theme. For M we we came up with Machines, Music, Monsters, Mythology, or an alphabet of Moustaches! After some discussion we agreed that M for Museum would be the best fit. Museums are full of lots of very interesting things so it was an obvious choice. We knew it would offer a wide range of words to learn, and also lots of cool things to draw. In our museum you have to find everything from a suit of Armour to a Ziggurat.

As we worked on each alphabet, we found that it was a challenge to come up with things for certain letters – Q, Z, X & U are particularly tricky.  If we couldn’t think of anything for the letter U, we would be a bit cheeky and have underpants as the thing to find!  Even if we did have a letter U, we decided to include underpants in the picture anyway!

In the Museum you have to find the Urn, but there is also a pair of underpants in a glass case. I imagine that these underpants must have huge historical significance! They could have been the underpants worn by the first man in space, or underpants worn by the first president of the United States of America. Or perhaps, they are prehistoric underpants and they belonged to a Neanderthal man. We left it up to the reader to decide who they belong to!

I hope kids will enjoy finding all of the things in the Museum. Once they have found everything on the list they can try and find more things in the picture. Often there is more than one thing beginning with each letter. Once they have exhausted the book (it will take some time!) they could think about the different alphabets around them. You could come up with an alphabet for where you live, or an alphabet of your favourite foods, or an alphabet of all the countries in the world. You can have a lot of fun thinking about alphabets!

In the book you’ll find an alphabet of hats, a toy shop alphabet, an alphabet in space and an alphabet of yellow things! For the letter V we made a vehicles alphabet, a whole A-Z of crazy vehicles to find. I really like drawing cars so this picture was one of my favourites. Alongside the more traditional modes of transport we managed to squeeze in some unexpected things: a vampire driving a hearse, a nun on a skateboard, a yellow submarine and a heavy metal rock band in a pink limousine!

The most difficult alphabet to complete was W for things to Wear.  We came up with the idea of a character wearing 26 alphabetical items of clothing – all at the same time! That doesn’t sound like such a big deal but you should try wearing that many items of clothing whilst retaining any kind of fashion sense. Things can get pretty silly, pretty fast…

The Alphabet of Alphabets is the 10th non-fiction title that I’ve worked on. I feel that I have learnt a lot from all the books that I have illustrated, but with 26 alphabets to draw this was definitely the biggest project I’ve ever done. It was a real pleasure to work with Mandy & Mike and the lovely team at Wide Eyed Editions. I hope we can make another book together soon.

The Alphabet of Alphabets, created by Mike Jolley and Amanda Wood and illustrated by Allan Sanders, is published by Wide Eyed Editions, and you can buy it here. Check out Allan’s instagram to see fun animations associated with the book: omnibus and boats.

Allan Sanders studied at Manchester University and the Royal College of Art. Over the last 15 years Allan has worked on animations for the FIFA World Cup website, illustrations for French road safety agency Sécuritié Routière, animations and posters for the Oregon Humane Society’s ‘End Petlessness’ campaign, children’s books including Perfectly Perilous Math, Little Explorers and How Machines Work, and editorial projects for magazines & newspapers worldwide including The New Yorker and The Economist.  Allan lives in Brighton. For more information about Allan visit his website.

 

 

 

 

The Mystery of the Golden Wonderflower by Benjamin Flouw

golden wonderflowerI’m constantly bamboozled when I read a great English novel and discover that the author has named the plants that the protagonist brushes past in her garden, or the genus of trees that the antagonist climbs to launch his ambush. At my primary school we occasionally went on a ‘nature’ walk, but I gathered little more than conkers and pine cones. Now, my children can’t identify different leaves or wildflowers, they falter at nature – and this is despite having a house rich in books and traversing a field every morning to get to school (we do live in urban London though). The Lost Words helped enormously with this last year, but now, in British Science Week, (9th to 18th March), a simple picture book has caught my eye, published in Germany, translated from the French, and now on our own shores.

The Golden Wonderflower introduces Fox, a botanist, who realises that there’s a picture missing in one of his botany books. No one has yet drawn this rare precious plant called the Wonderflower, so Fox sets off on a long journey to find it.

Not only does Fox experience the most delightful journey, wandering through woodland – illustrated with light and dark, tall trees and a faint mist that feels so real that the reader can almost breathe the sweet air themselves, but also he recognises the plants along the way, and demonstrates his knowledge to the reader. Hence, every few pages of the story, Fox shows us the names and details of the plants – a pine leaf, tree and cone, all illustrated and labelled. A spruce, a beech, an oak and so on.

golden wonderflower inside

There are friends too, a bear fishing (with a rod), cousin Wolf who likes his food, and a marmot who points the Fox in the right direction up the mountain. Here, Flouw illustrates the different levels of the mountainside, in a landscape that highlights the different fields of crops, and the array of trees, which subtly change shape as he traverses up the mountain.

When the reader, and Fox, finally encounter the flower, the production team behind the book have done a beautiful job, for it is truly gaspworthy (using more than a little foiling – it shines). Fox knows not to pick it, for it is rare, so he sketches it instead, showing the reader the names of the different sections of a flower.

The illustrations are reminiscent of Jon Klassen in tone, although slightly more angular, and the colours reflective of the landscape – yellow, brown, green and orange hues in the woodland, blues and purples higher up the mountain, and of course, an abundance of green, particularly at Fox’s lush and verdant house.

Flouw also uses colour to delineate the time of day, and it’s the sunset at the top of the mountain that’s particularly magnificent, with colour sweeping across the page giving an atmospheric peace to the spread, and using the play of shadow to enormous effect.

The book aims to indicate the pleasure of a nature walk, the beauty of observing the natural world, but also points to conservation, as Fox realises how wrong it would be to pick this wonder flower. Instead he leaves it where and how it was – this is where it is most beautiful.

This book, conversely, should be picked up and leafed through, time and time again. It’s a wonder itself.

You can buy it here. Please note the book may be called The Golden Glow in the US.

International Women’s Day

Tomorrow, Thursday 8th March, 2018, is International Women’s Day.

As we celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage in the UK in 2018, it’s essential to show the younger generation the importance of their political history, so that they appreciate what’s gone before them, but also so that they can be inspired and harness that energy to forge their path in the future.

The publishing industry has been pushing certain children’s books for a while as a call to gender equality (Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls is one such book, although I abhor the title). Seeing the young faces in the library each week, I know that they are interested in women in the past who have fought for equality, but the younger generation also need to continue the fight so that equal pay and equal opportunities become global achievements. You can read past blogs about some inspirational books here, and here, but below are a set of just published books celebrating amazing women in history, and contemporary struggles:

Make More Noise (anthology, published by Nosy Crow)
This is a sumptuous selection of short stories by top children’s authors, which all aim to inspire readers and whet their appetite to learn more about important figures in the past, and the meaning of the women’s movement. There are historical stories, contemporary, fantasy; each playing to the strength of its author, so that Emma Carroll and Katherine Woodfine have written delectable historical stories, whereas K Millwood Hargrave goes for fantasy, and MG Leonard sticks to bugs in the present.

For me, the defining story is the tale of an ordinary housemaid by Woodfine, as it probes into the essence of what the Votes for Women campaign meant. The idea was more than obtaining the right to put a simple cross on the ballot paper, but rather a different way of seeing women – a chance to provide further opportunities for education and learning, for social mobility, for basic human rights.

Emma Carroll’s story takes in the Land Girls, Jeanne Willis profiles the first woman to cycle around the globe in a year, and Patrice Lawrence writes a wonderful tale of the Spitalfields slums inspired by the campaigner, Olive Christian Malvery. Catherine Johnson writes a particularly engaging tale about the fairly unknown 43 Group, ex-servicemen who fought against anti-Semitic activists in Britain, and Sally Nicholls writes a jolly hockey sticks adventure about census night 1911, with a clear political message.

It’s all very well preaching history and political correctness, but luckily for its readership, this is a collection that is witty and wise, engaging and accessible, which mixes in themes of friendship, belonging and even the supernatural, whilst still staying true to women’s voices. An absolute joy for the soul – both men’s and women’s, and stunningly written, as one would expect from such a talented bunch of writers. You can buy it here.

herstoryHerStory: 50 Women and Girls Who Shook the World by Katherine Halligan, illustrated by Sarah Walsh

This large biography book takes a double page for each subject and tells the story of the woman it’s featuring. The author breaks the text into chunky paragraphs with subheadings, and each profile features illustrations, and where possible, photographs. The text reads straightforwardly but deals with complexities – as well as highlighting the life of the woman and her achievements, it also poses questions to the reader: What genius might Emily Bronte have produced had she lived beyond 30 years?

The text also extrapolates what was good about these women’s actions – the book features anti-Nazi resistance leader Sophia Scholl, and Halligan has quoted Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The author then goes on to highlight how one person can have the power to change, to speak up for what’s right.

This is a powerful book that highlights the women’s importance but also depicts when in history these women were not recognised – when Mary Anning was not properly credited in museums, how Mary Seacole was never thanked officially by the military for her work. It then goes on to explain why and how these women are now worthy of our studies, of our knowledge, or their place in our ‘history’ or ‘herstory’.

Featuring such diverse women as Joan of Arc, Harriet Tubman, Amelia Earhart, Wangari Maathai, Anne Sullivan and more, this is a powerful and attractive collection of histories. Subjects are arranged thematically, so that Elizabeth Blackwell sits alongside Eva Peron in ‘Help and Heal’. If you’re wondering about Eva Peron, Halligan also points out where people may have found fault in things these women did too – no one is a saint.

This is crucial in our analysis of history, and being able to think critically about figures in the past. This objective insight also serves us well: if we portray all women as complete saints, we will find it hard to emulate them. Most importantly, the book highlights how all these women had to fight and work hard to get what they wanted – whether it be publishing at first under a man’s name, acting on stage with a prosthetic leg after traumatic amputation, or dying impoverished – each persevered, and have now been found to have made a huge difference to our lives today. An excellent non-fiction title for International Women’s Day and beyond. You can buy it here.

little leaders bold women in black historyLittle Leaders: Bold Women in Black History by Vashti Harrison
Although there is a little more recognition of BAME and diverse voices in history now, and a little more recognition that all people need to be represented in publishing, there is still a gap in the market for such titles. This beautiful little book aims to plug one gap. Born from a project started during Black History Month, Harrison wants to celebrate those who have been marginalised in the past; some of Harrison’s subjects were not even aware that their steps were forging a path for the future. Of course, there is Rosa Parks and Harriet Tubman, but also less well-known women such as Alma Woodsey Thomas, a teacher and painter.

Arranged in chronological order from date of birth, there is a large focus on modern women, with only 13 featured from pre-20th century, but this is to be expected with our patriarchal global narrative that has cast women as inferior for much of history. There is also quite a large American slant, although others are featured too.

Each woman is afforded a page of text, and Harrison runs through their lives and achievements succinctly, and without much commentary, and it certainly all reads very positively. Opposite the text is a full page illustration (which is how the project started). The illustrations are very similar – all feature the woman in subject looking doll-like with downcast eyes – and here is the rub. Unfortunately for a book about leaders, it seems a shame to have called them ‘little’ in the title, and illustrated them with their eyes down, looking somewhat demure and docile.

Women featured include Augusta Savage, Gwendolyn Brooks, Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, Julie Dash, Oprah Winfrey, Dr Mae Jemison, and Diane Abbot. At the back, Harrison lists a few more, but her bibliography is lacking. You can buy it here.

anthology of amazing womenAnthology of Amazing Women: Trailblazers Who Dared to be Different by Sandra Lawrence, illustrated by Nathan Collins

There’s a pattern emerging here! Another biographies book that features 50 women from various walks of life who have made significant contributions to society or ground-breaking achievements. Again arranged thematically, and again featuring a full page of text and an accompanying full page full-colour illustration for each person (somewhat stylised and looking a little like the Women in Science series). Sneakily, the author also shoves in another few women for the chapter openers – obviously whittling the list down to fifty proved difficult.

I would query how it’s possible to have a paragraph on Anne Frank without mentioning the word ‘Jewish’, and would query the need to feature this overflow from the 50, seeing as there isn’t the space to highlight their achievements and who they were in enough detail. For the fifty profiled though, the text is factual and unobtrusive without opinion and questioning.

A failing here is that there are no dates at the beginning of each profile, so it’s hard to immediately place the woman in history, but the upside is that generally this is quite a different cast of women, and this itself has the possibility to make the reader think.

Profiles include: Beyonce, Sheryl Sandberg, Tove Jansson, Yani Tseng, Nettie Stevens, Simone de Beauvoir, Hatshepsut, and Georgia O’Keeffe, as well as the reliable Emmeline Pankhurst, Mary Anning, Mary Wollstonecraft and Frida Kahlo.

It is especially delightful to see the inclusion of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer who has not only written some wonderful novels, but also continues to inspire with her TED talks. And Fanny Mendelssohn, whose husband encouraged her to compose and publish her work. Although cast aside by many because she was a woman, with the foresight of a feminist husband, she was enabled to gain some recognition for her music.

amazing womenAmazing Women: 101 Lives to Inspire You by Lucy Beevor, illustrated by Sarah Green

Doubling the stakes here, with 101 women featured, this is a more British take on inspirational women, and one of the best. Submitted to me with a press release, it was the only one to express the publisher’s difficulty in navigating history – in that people who were a power for good may also have caused some harm. It mentions replacing Aung San Suu Kyi in future reprints, but has rightly included Margaret Thatcher in spite of many people’s attitudes towards her. Indeed despite less text on each profile (a larger book but sometimes only half a page attributed to each woman), the text manages to deal with controversies, even if mentioned only very lightly, as in the profile of Benazir Bhutto.

This book is definitely one to whet the appetite for further research, rather than comprehensive bibliographies, but happily does give the dates of each woman. Arranged thematically again, but with slightly more ambiguity as subtitles include: pioneer, virtuoso, creator, campaigner, inspiration. It certainly feels more modern than the others, featuring mainly 20th century women, with the exception made for Edith Cavell, Marie Curie and Emmeline Pankhurst.

The illustrations are full colour, engaging and lively – these women look expressive and as if they are facing the reader, many with querying eye contact.

Like all the books featured, this one too promotes hard work and dedication, commitment and standing up for what’s right. The women featured might be lucky to have been picked for inclusion in the books, but there was not much luck in how these women got where they did – that was down to grit. You can buy it here.

Meet the…Ancient Romans by James Davies

meet the ancient romansThere is one key feature of nonfiction for children for which I am always on the lookout, and that’s the author’s ability to put over information in an accessible and concise way, no matter the scope or depth of that information. Then, of course that information has to be interesting, and explain the point well enough so that children understand and are hooked, but not provide so much detail that they get lost in reams of text.

Those looking to emulate those skills, should seek out Meet the Ancient Romans by James Davies. A vast subject to tackle, the Ancient Roman Empire spans all elements of life and hundreds of years of history – and yet Davies has managed to compact it all into a golden nugget of information for young readers.

Each book – for there is one on Ancient Egyptians too – is 64 pages, and manages to cram a huge amount into a small book, and much of that information is conveyed through explanatory and amusing illustrations.

Meet the…Ancient Romans tackles everything from Roman numerals and emperors to way of life and the army, but also addresses questions a child might have if they have already heard something of the subject matter. For example, it references that the child may have heard of Caesar, and be questioning why he isn’t mentioned on the emperors’ hall of fame page – Davies then gives the answer to this – Caesar wasn’t actually an emperor.

Above all, the book is highly visual. This is determined by the colour tone, which gives the reader their first impression – for Rome the book is red in tone, which implies tomatoes (for me anyway, which I associate with that part of the world, but also of course for the red pigment used in their villas, as well as the red material and paint which is associated with their god of war, Mars.) The Egyptian book is yellow – presumably for sand.

But more than just the large limited colour palate, Davies’ book is highly visual because each page is dominated by cartoon-like images and vignettes of people, doing the tasks described. There is immense attention to detail in these drawings – from the mighty legions in the Rome book to the depiction of mummification in the Egypt book. This is hugely impressive, but Davies has also inserted his sense of humour into the illustrations – one Roman soldier seems to have lost his uniform for example; this is a book that entertains as well as informs.

There are also comedic speech bubbles, somewhat reminiscent of Horrible Histories, although Davies’ book is for a younger audience, and is brighter, bolder and shorter!

As Davies progresses the narrative through the book, he adds more and more comments to his explanations. From Roman numerals to the army, clothing and schooling, the author uses one liners or small phrases to indicate his opinion, and it feels as if his personality is growing with the book. A sense of intimacy and shared comedy is felt with the author – a lovely touch for an information book for a young audience.

Each book ends with a very short and sweet timeline; in Ancient Romans, it depicts the beginning of Rome with Romulus and Remus to the end of the Roman Empire in AD 476 when Germany invaded. You can buy a copy here.

The companion title, Meet the Ancient Egyptians is equally buzzing with personality and information.  A fair amount of this title is spent on death and the afterlife, an obsession both of the people of the time, but also children today who are often captivated by the process of mummification, and the tombs in which the pharaohs were buried.

The series feels as if it were made to last, and should be an excellent addition to all school libraries, but also a great gift for those looking to pique children’s interest in Ancient History. I’ll be looking out for further titles…hoping for Greece and Mayans….You can buy the Ancient Egyptians book here.

American Big Hitters

Two picture books that snuck into the publishing schedule last year, but which have recently come to my attention are both by big hitting American authors, who both dabble in the children’s book market, as well as writing adult fiction. Here, their individual writing styles shine in two profoundly different takes on the picture book and what it can do.

the bad mood and the stick
The Bad Mood and the Big Stick by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Matt Forsythe
There’s nothing new in the idea of a child in a bad mood who passes it on (see my 2015 blog here), but Lemony Snicket is a master at putting his own spin on a premise, especially adding a tongue-in-cheek quirk. What’s more, the illustrations are sensational – from the cover onwards. The little girl on the cover, holding her stick, looks so mad and grumpy, one really feels as if she might wield it at the reader. But it’s the grumpy cloud above her (with matching facial expression) that appeals to the reader too – like the grey cloud above Eeyore, this one looks hard to shift.

Curly is the grumpy girl, and she has her reasons. The bad mood has been with her since she saw an ice cream shop, but was not given an ice cream. The reader sees her with her arms crossed, the bad mood hovering above, and her mother and brother strolling happily ahead. Of course, within pages, Curly has passed the bad mood to her mother (Yes, you’ve guessed it, she poked her brother with the stick, giving her momentary delight and causing her parent stress). The book continues as the bad mood passes from person to person.

Except that’s not the whole story. Snicket uses the catchphrase ‘You never know what is going to happen’, as the book veers off into completely different territory – with the stick as a catalyst, and one particular person breaking the bad mood chain. In the end, Curly gets an ice cream, but the bad mood seems to be hovering again.

The illustrations work well – a multi-coloured bad mood that sets the colour palette for the book, infusing everything with a candy-hued blend and a dominant pastel orange. The cast of characters are shown with a range of emotions – even the animals. This means that the moodiness isn’t isolated; it can spring upon somebody suddenly, but it can also mix with other emotions, providing a contrast, or be diluted itself. Emotions are complex things, but also fleeting…You can buy a copy of the book here.

her right foot

Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris
A second title from the end of last year, also American, also by a big-name author. But this, as Dave Eggers explains, is a factual book about the origins of the Statue of Liberty. The pace is fast, the author chatty and self-referential, addressing the reader using the second person ‘you’ as he assumes the reader has a basic knowledge of his topic while he quickly documents how the statue was conceived and built.

But the main thrust of the book, reached halfway through, is the foot of the title, which is shown to be walking. At this point, Eggers wants the reader to use their knowledge to think about the meaning behind this. Why is the Statue of Liberty mid-stride? The story leaves the factual behind and crosses into the territory of extrapolation and discovery. If the statue is for freedom, and she is walking, then she is continuing the fight for freedom, for liberty.

Embracing the culture of immigration, of building a nation for freedom, Eggers has created a picture book manifesto for how he views the United States. In our current political climate, this is a pertinent point well made, and the second half of the book shows the mix of immigrants to the States since the Statue of Liberty was constructed, and the ongoing fight for tolerance and acceptance.

The illustrations throughout show a myriad of peoples, as well as places, but feel poster-like in their construction, and display a sense of humour that matches the author’s. Although the book feels a little preachy in places, it’s a good jumping off point for discussion. And remains timely in 2018. You can buy it here.

 

 

Girls Who Code by Reshma Saujani and Sarah Hutt, illustrated by Andrea Tsurumi

I’ve been trying to think about which book would suit my last book of the week for the year 2017. What trends have there been, what news, what good coming out of the year? There’s a lot of doom and gloom with Brexit, Trump, and plastic in the environment, but I wanted to focus on the good things.

One good thing, and slightly closer to home, is the surge of awareness of gender equality. Of society beginning to see women and girls as equal to men and boys and fighting harder for a lack of discrimination, harassment and stereotyping. There have been hugely successful children’s books covered by mainstream media, such as Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls, but how do we teach our girls to not only look up to pioneers who went before them, but also to change the world for the better? Technology is a huge part of our modern world – a massive chunk of our children’s waking lives. So, rather than just getting them to use the technology, let’s teach them to understand how it works. You can’t beat an algorithm if you don’t understand it.

Recently, various girls in my school have been learning to code. And one pioneer of this revolution is Reshma Saujani. You can see her TED talk here, which explains why we should be teaching girls bravery rather than perfection – a key message in her book too.

Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World is proving to be helpful in many ways.

It is not just a manual for learning to code – in fact it’s not for beginners learning to code, but a resource to explain coding, and to promote confidence in doing so. The book doesn’t teach a specific coding language – as say Usborne Coding for Beginners Using Python, which is a step-by-step guide and a very useful one at that. Rather, Girls Who Code tries to indicate the logic and theory behind programming, often using cartoons in real-life applications to extricate the meaning of making the code. Although it might sound complex at first, with a little concentration my pre-tween tester completely understood the premise.

There’s also coding history and interviews with women working in programming, all of which give the message that STEM is great for girls, but that also failing and retrying are essential. Wrapped up in these is Saujani’s key message that perfection is not what girls should be striving for, but aiming instead to learn from mistakes. After all, penicillin was discovered by mistake; the first pacemaker was invented by mistake too. As was Coca-Cola – and look how successful that became.

Of course, the fun bit of coding is included in the book too – fun projects with apps, games and art etc. Throughout the book are illustrations in one-tone teal, which show a diverse cast of girls learning to code, with speech bubbles, diagrams and comics – these break up the text and are hugely informative.

In the end, the idea is that as well as understanding what coding is, and how to go about it, girls will understand how useful it is, how accessible computer science is. With a knowledge of programming, girls can go on to solve problems, take control, and in essence, change the world. An admirable book to look forward to a new year. You can buy it here.

Votes for Women

There are many reasons I’ve wanted to feature suffragette books on the blog for a while now. In a world of current political turmoil, it can be helpful to look to historical fiction for guidance. Women’s rights are still an issue, with recent contention over equal pay, sexual harassment in the workplace, and ongoing struggles within families as to ‘default’ parenting. So, the women’s fight for suffrage has never seemed that far from one’s mind. Next year, attention focusses fully on this again, as Vote 100 aims to bring attention to the 100th anniversaries in 2018: The Representation of the People Act 1918 (allowing some women to vote for the first time) and the Parliament Qualification of Women Act in 1918 (allowing women to stand for election to the Commons) as well as many other anniversaries. However, my compelling reason for bringing you these ‘suffragette books’ is that they’re all so completely brilliant.


Things a Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls
One of my favourite authors for middle grade, Nicholls tells a wonderful yarn no matter her subject matter, and here she steps completely into YA territory. This accomplished novel follows three girls, Evelyn, May and Nell, through their fight for the vote at the beginning of the First World War. Each girl is from a different social strata of society, (Evelyn is expected to marry rather than be educated, and Nell is a working class girl just trying to get by), and each has different aims and ambitions, as well as winningly flawed yet determined personas. Nicholls tackles social history with aplomb, as well as LGBT issues and the tangled emotions of suffragette women as their cause became swept up in the war breaking out across Europe.

Both a fascinating historical eye-opener and a scintillating story, readers will race through the different points of view to see how the girls’ stories collide, and where they each end up. The research shines through, but never overpowers the book, and it is the girls who in the end dominate and succeed – through hardship and tears. Characters to remember, prose to devour. Who wouldn’t give these girls the vote? Buy your copy here.


The Making of Mollie by Anna Carey
For a younger readership, but another powerful novel that also includes accurate social history of the time (the author borrows from her own school’s history), with a great story.

Told in letter format to a friend at boarding school, Mollie stumbles into women’s suffrage after sneaking out after her big sister Phyllis and ending up at a suffragist meeting. Mollie empathises with the cause after relating it to small injustices in her own life, such as the free reign afforded to her brother, and the fact that he’s always given the best bits of the roast chicken first. The story strikes a lovely balance between school days (tussles with friends and enemies, conservative teachers and disapproving adults), with the political cause dominating the landscape.

Mollie and her friend take to the suffragette cause in a gentle way; attempting to attend meetings; their most daring venture being the chalking of pavements with notices. It feels real, and practical, and suited well to the age of the protagonist. This novel is set in Dublin rather than England, and also intersperses the politics of suffrage with issues of Irish Home Rule, illustrated by speeches of the time. The book doesn’t shy away from details, but mainly explores a coming-of-age at an interesting political time, showing what it means to stick up for what you believe in, and the consequences for all those involved. Clever, engaging and endearing. You can purchase it here.


Little People: Emmeline Pankhurst by Lisbeth Kaiser, illustrated by Ana Sanfelippo
Part of the series of stylish picture books on women achievers; previous titles have included Frida Kahlo, Maya Angelou, Marie Curie, telling the women’s stories simply and effectively. This one is no different.

Pankhurst’s life is explained with one or two sentences per page, from her childhood in which she first discovered the inequalities between men and women and then her inspirational fight in adulthood to obtain the vote for women. It highlights her leadership skills, the adversity she faced as a single mother after the death of her husband, and her commitment to her family as well as to the cause. Her life is distilled into a simple, harmless yet powerful biography.

With retro colouring, and great attention to detail, the illustrations make the storytelling. There is a find out more section at the back, and photographs of the real Emmeline on a timeline, but the essence of this series is that the books look as good on a coffee table as lining a child’s bedroom. You can buy it here.


Rebel Voices: The Rise of Votes for Women by Louise Kay Stewart and Eve Lloyd Knight
Cheating a little, because this book isn’t out until January, but this beautifully illustrated title celebrates campaigners around the globe who fought for the women’s right to vote. Although suffrage in this country does get a good deal of attention, there are some startling facts and figures from other countries that are worth knowing, and this book aims to highlight them. In fact, the story starts in New Zealand, with Kate Sheppard, who cycled her way around the streets in Christchurch in 1892. Maori women and female settlers in New Zealand became the first women in the world to win the right to vote in a national election in 1893. The book moves chronologically around the globe, charting the rise of women’s rights country to country, and mentions key campaigners and activists, but also points out places in which women were afforded the vote, but the right was not necessarily granted to other minority groups.

Fascinatingly illustrated too, in that the illustrations dominate each page with their bold colours, striking strength and symbolism, and each suits its country well, there is little text for the size of the book – just enough to convey the pertinent points and get the reader thinking. The book ends in 2015 with Saudi Arabia, but also draws some conclusions. The author points out that women have a long way to go in other areas of equality, such as pay, education, and opportunities, and asks the reader to think about the global patterns in which suffrage was granted – often at times of war, revolution, or changes in identity. This is a powerful-looking book for a powerful subject, and well-deserving of a place in every library. You can pre-order your copy here.


Girls Who Rocked the World by Michelle Roehm McCann and Amelie Welden
Lastly, this isn’t a suffragette book, but if you’re looking for inspiration on powerful women, as well as Bedtime Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo and Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World by Kate Pankhurst, you’d do just as well (if you’re looking for something aimed at those a little older) to pick up this collection of biographies.

Featuring women from across the centuries and around the world who have had a remarkable influence, including suffragette Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, Hatshepsut, Florence Nightingale, Anna Pavlova, The Bronte Sisters, Indira Ghandhi and many more. It’s a weird and eclectic selection, including up-to-the-minute influencers, but it attempts to show that women, just like men, have been, and continue to be, shapers of history.

Each person is described in a few pages, highlighting what they have done, but also why they matter. The text style is chatty and informative, but also quite dense – there are very few illustrations here. Perhaps a book to dip into, rather like short stories. There are ‘boxes off’ with quotes from today’s young women, talking about what they hope for their own futures: How will You rock the world? If it’s aimed to get the reader researching further, thinking more and making a difference, it works. You can buy it here.
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