This week’s word is “Pankhurst.”
Ok, that’s a slightly cheaty word, but “Great”, “Women”, and “History” are too general. Emmeline Pankhurst was a fantastically great woman who made history and the book’s author is Kate Pankhurst, so I’m going with it. Note: Emmeline Pankhurst doesn’t appear in this book, she’s in Kate Pankhurst’s excellent first book, Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World. I have no idea whether there’s a family connection or it’s a just a delicious cosmic coincidence.
What is “Fantastically Great Women Who Made History?”
It’s a fabulous picture book aimed at children aged around 8 upwards. It details the lives, travails, and accomplishments of women across the globe. Included in this volume are:
- Harriet Tubman
- Boudicca
- Flora Drummond
- Qiu Jin
- Noor Inayat Khan
- Elizabeth Blackwell
- Pocahontas
- Valentina Tereshkova
- Ada Lovelace
- Sayyida-al-Hurra
- Hatshepsut
- Josephine Baker
- Mary Wollstonecraft
- Mary Shelley
Each fantastically great woman has a double page, filled with informative text and engaging diagrams. The book looks at great women from around the world and examines their impact on the society and the world around them. It’s ideal for anybody who wants to inspire girls and boys. with the idea that, they too, might be able to have an impact on history. At the back of the book, there’s a great double page “bookshelf of brilliance” with the caption “How you will you make history?”
Do I need “Fantastically Great Women Who Made History?”
In short: Yes.
All history books, no matter who they feature, should be as engaging as Kate Pankhurst’s. Focusing on the person, rather than the deed, Pankhurst humanizes history. When I was at school, history was fact-based and rather dry. Books like Fantastically Great Women… contextualize history and the people who created it. The author’s vivid drawings and descriptions give the subject a vitality that’s perfect for switching on young receptive minds. With both of her Fantastically Great Women books, Kate Pankhurst opens up a world of history to children everywhere.
You can buy Fantastically Great Women Who Made History, here in the US and here, in the UK. It publishes February 8th, 2018.
Do check out my other Word Wednesday posts, here.
Disclosure: I was sent a copy of the book in order to write this review.
