Canadian women have long been trailblazers, creating art, making discoveries and setting records - and often battling incredible odds and discrimination in the process. Here, award-winning children's writer Elizabeth MacLeod presents biographies of more than one hundred of these remarkable women, from the famous, such as Margaret Atwood, to the lesser known, such as multi-award-winning mathematician Karen Yeats. There are stories of activists and architects, engineers and explorers, poets and politicians and so many more. Each category pairs a historical groundbreaker with a present-day woman making her mark in that same field. Included are stories of Indigenous women, immigrants, women with disabilities and women from the LGBTQ+ community. Together, they tell the story of Canada. And together they offer a vision of what's possible, to inspire all children to blaze trails of their own. This unique look at Canadian history is engagingly written with a storyteller's touch, making this a book that will be read for both research and pleasure. Organized by profession, it includes women in science, the arts, sports, politics, activism, law, business and more. The clean, modern design, along with the colour portraits of each woman by Maia Faddoul, make the pages accessible and inviting. This excellent resource for social studies lessons also contains a time line of significant dates in Canadian women's history, a list of author's sources, further resources and an index. AGES: 9 to 12 AUTHOR: Elizabeth MacLeod has written many children's books, including nine titles in the Snapshots Biography series, numerous titles in the Kids Can Read, Kids Books Of and Kids Can Do It series, Why Do Horses Have Manes?, What Did Dinosaurs Eat?, and Monster Fliers. She lives in Toronto. Maia Faddoul is an illustrator and graphic designer whose bright, colourful work often celebrates women and their empowering stories. She studied illustration at Dawson College and design at the Universite du Quebec a Montreal. Maia lives in Montreal, Quebec.
Canadian Women Now + Then is a collection of illustrated biographical vignettes of over 100 Canadian women from the past and present. Released 7th April 2020 by Kids Can Press, it's 80 pages and available in hardcover format.
This would make a superlative classroom/library resource, homeschool aid, or a fun and interesting entertaining read. The biographies are as varied as the subjects and are grouped thematically: engineers, mathematicians, cultural icons, musicians, athletes and many more. Each of the categories is represented with two short biographies; one who is currently active and one from the past. The biographies include birthdates, active years, awards and recognitions, as well as a short biographical write-up and an illustration. There are no photographs but the illustrations are quite well done and appealing. There are also mentions of other noteworthy women in each category for further reading. The book includes a useful index as well as resources for further reading.
It's aimed at middle school readers (ages 9-12) and the information provided in the biographies is relayed honestly and in an age-appropriate manner.
Five stars. Well written and appealing, I learnt quite a lot from this short collection.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
