Recently Read Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Author: Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
Genre: Nonfiction/ Illustrated
Publication Date: 2017
Page Count: 212
Rating:  2.5/5

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Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls in an anthology in the style of bed-time stories about one hundred women from history. Each story is accompanied by an illustration. 

These anthologies of forgotten or overlooked women of history are becoming quite popular, and I love it! I have been reading as many as I can get my hands on because I love using them to discover new-to-me women from history. You may know I majored in English and minored in history, and my area of interest was always gender in both subjects, so these books were made for me! This is the most popular of these anthologies as it is already getting a sequel and has had quite a bit of buzz. However, I heard some critiques of the book I found interesting (mainly this video from Jean Bookish Thoughts on Youtube) so I was really interested in checking it out from the library before purchasing it for myself, and I'm glad I did because I have some mixed thoughts.

Obviously, I love the premise behind this one. I love the idea of a book funded by kickstarter about forgotten women of history all around the world accompanied by portraits of said women done by tons of different women artists, but this sounds better than it was. I found my main problem with this book was the writing of the actual stories. The stories were so vague and watered down that they hardly contained any information about the women themselves or their work. I also found that some of the women's stories focused on strange aspects of their lives other than their work. Virginia Woolf's page, for example, was all about her depression; two short sentences on the page mention that she was a writer. I found myself wanting to learn more about these women than these short summaries offered. There is also the question of the inclusion of a few of the women, as Jean mentions in the video above. There are ancient female leaders who conquered other nations in here, as well as Margaret Thatcher, who was anti-equal rights for many groups of individuals. This brings to light the idea that having power should not automatically earn someone admiration. 

One thing I did love about this book was the full-page color illustration of each woman. I loved that the authors worked with sixty different female artists and that the portraits were of all different styles. Some of the art I loved, and some I didn't, but I appreciated the variation more than I thought I would at the beginning. I also loved that this book included women from around the world as well as  throughout time. This collection was one of the most diverse I have seen. It spans ancient Chinese rulers to current athletes and activists. I also appreciated that current women were represented in this book, and a lot of them are very young. 

If more time and detail had been put into the writing in this book, I would have loved it. I came away with a long list of women I want to research and read about, which is exactly what I'm looking for in these anthologies. I will continue to read every one of these types of anthologies that come out because I love supporting books and ideas like this. Although I think there are probably better anthologies out there, (I'll let you know when I find one) I do recommend you pick this one up.

Let me know if you have any recommendations for me of similar books. Oh, and Happy National Women's History Month :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books Past Me Loved and Present Me Wants to Reread

Shocker: I read a lot as a kid.Before I could read, I made my parents read to me constantly, and after I learned to read on my own, there was no stopping me. I'm very attached to my books from my childhood and most of the books on this list are books that I own my mom's hand-me-down copies of as a kid and still today, which made them even more special to me, and of course they still are. So here are ten books I loved as a kid and still love today and would love to reread.  

Hosted by: The Broke and the Bookish

 

1. A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket

I never finished this series, I got to book eight or nine and then for some reason never finished. I would love to see how this over-the-top series finished. 

2. Nancy Drew, Carolyn Keene

I love Nancy Drew's sass and fearlessness.

3. The Little House on the Prairie series, Laura Ingles Wilder 

This was one that belonged to my mom, and I haven't finished the series and I would love to. 

 

4. Alexander and Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day, Judith Viorst

As a college student, I can relate to poor Alexander about 6/7 days of the week. I love the illustrations in this book and it would definitely cheer me up on a horrible, no good, very bad day.  

5. Junie B. Jones series, Barbra Park 

Junie B. Jones always cracks me up! I remember both of us cracking up when my mom would read these out loud to me! 

6. Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo

This is one of the first books that I read on my own that I LOVED. I read it multiple times and I would love to reread it. This was one of the first books that really made me FEEL something.

 

7. The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

This was another one that was passed down from my mom, and one we always read together.

8. Time Stops For No Mouse, Micheal Hoeye

I read this one in elementary and loved it! It has great adventure and mystery.  

9. The Borrowers Afloat, Mary Norton

Another book that I read my mom's copy off! I love the illustrations in this one.

10. Ramona and Beezus, Beverly Clearly 

Another book that always made me laugh! I love the Ramona books, but this one is my favorite I think. 

My Favorite Christmas and Holiday Picture Books

No surprise here, but when I was a kid I loved to be read to way before I could read on my own. We still have the majority of my picture books, and I love to go through them at any time, but especially during the holidays. I thought I would share a few of my favorite Christmas picture books today to get you into the Christmas spirit, and to remind you to pull out your old favorite picture books every once and awhile.

The Hat by Jan Brett

I love Jan Brett's illustrations. They are so intricate and beautiful, but my favorite part about her books when I was young was the abundance of pictures on the side borders of the pages. With those pictures I could make up my own story and "read" to my parents. I own many of Brett's works and read them over and over as a kid.

The Night Before Christmas by Jan Brett 

This is my favorite illustrated version of this poem. Again, the illustrations are beautiful, and you can see a sample of Brett's side-border illustrations. 

Welcome Comfort by Patricia Polacco

The Trees of the Dancing Goats by Patricia Polacco

Patricia Polacco is another on of my favorite picture books authors/illustrators. Her books are so full of color. culture, and love. I will warn you, her books have a large amount of words for picture books so the littler ones may not be able to sit through the whole book, but the stories are beautiful and these books are great for upper elementary and even middle school kids. She has so many different books about different cultures and holidays, and a beautiful illustration style. 

Aunite Claus by Elsie Primavera 

 If I had to pick a favorite Christmas book, this would be it. I love, love this book. It's so magical and heartwarming and captures the spirit of Christmas beautifully. I know there is another book featuring the same characters, but I have yet to check that one out, but I so need to. The second one is called Auntie Claus and the Key to Christmas.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs

This book is a Winter classic. It contains no words, just beautifully illustrated pictures that tell the story of the adventure a young boy and his snowman have. This is great for younger kids because they can make up their own story and feel like they are reading all by themselves, plus you get to listen to their unique story. The colors in this books are gorgeous and kids are really drawn to this book. This books is not about a specific holiday, just winter in general, meaning it's great for every child, regardless of what holiday they celebrate. 

The Snowy day by Erza Jack Keats

While this book isn't about a holiday, it sure is a winter classic. Kids love this book. There is just something about this book that draws kids in and captivates them. The pictures and colors are beautiful and the story is sweet. If there is a young child in your life that you have a hard time getting interested in books, I would suggest giving this one a try. I know my little cousins love this book, and want to read it back-to-back even though they will hardly sit still for five minutes any other time.