Betsy Bird, the fabulous author and acquisitions librarian for the Evanston Public Library, recommended “Shaking Things Up”, I think. This book tells about the lives of 14 different women who made a difference in 13 poems (one about 2 sisters).
The poems in Shaking Things Up
Susan Hood used 13 poetic forms, a different one to to tell each woman’s story. The poem she wrote about paleontologist, Mary Anning, for example, is shaped like a fossil–probably an ichthyosaur–a prehistoric sea reptile and one of Mary’s famous discoveries which she made at the age of thirteen.
The young women
And she chose other very interesting women–most of whom I had never heard of.
They include:
- Molly Williams, the first known woman firefighter in the US
- Ruby Bridges, who at 6 years of age became an icon for the civil rights movement as the first Black child to enter a New Orleans school. She spent the year alone in a classroom with the only teacher who would teach her
- Angela Zhang, a scientist and cancer researcher who began who college studies at the age of 15.
- Maya Lin, who at 21 designed the Vietnam war memorial in DC
- and 10 more.
Hood chose inspiring subjects and wrote amazing poetry about them. She also includes a timeline, little non-poetry bios, and other resources.
I don’t know how she selected these young women–and I’m sure there were many to choose from–but the ones she chose fascinating women to include. Kudos to Susan Hood for shedding light on them.
The illustrators
Anyhow, author Susan Hood worked with 13 women who each illustrated the poems of one of the young women from history(except for illustrator Sophie Blackall who illustrated 2 sisters who were both spies in World War II); women also edited and designed the book.
The illustrators created wonderful illustrations, as well. And they offer a wide diversity of styles. The illustrators: Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, Lisa Brown, Hadley Hooper, Emily Winfield Martin, Oge Mora, Julie Morstad, Sara Palacios, LeUyen Pham, Erin K Robinson, Isabel Roxas, Shadra Strickland and Melissa Sweet.
Age recommendation
The book is recommended for ages 5 and up, which seems like a good recommendation to me. If you’re at least 5, check it out–I checked it out of the Chicago Public Library.
If you read it, let me know what you think.
You can also check out a couple of other PB poetry book review that I wrote:
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
both by Joyce Sidman
And thanks for stopping by.
xoxo
