The Bobbin Girl

by Emily Arnold McCully

Rebecca Putney is a bobbin girl who helps support her struggling family by working all day in a hot, noisy cotton mill. Working conditions at the mill are poor, and there is talk of lowering the workers' wages. Rebecca's friend Judith wants to protest the pay cut--but troublemakers at the mill are dismissed. Does Rebecca have the courage to join the protest?

Genres: Picture Books, Historical Fiction, Childrens, American History, Labor, Womens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 1996

About the author

Emily Arnold McCully received the Caldecott Medal for Mirette on the High Wire. The illustrator of more than 40 books for young readers, she divides her time between Chatham, New York, and New York City.

Reviews

[Tina]

This was a really neat book about what it was like to be a working child during the Industrial Revolution. A 10yr old girl works as "Bobbin Girl" in a factory and witnesses injustice and illness and strikes, and learns the importance of standing up for your rights.

The art isn't what I would call super high quality, but it wasn't horrible. The story was a little long for youngers, but great for my 8 and 12 yr olds! We read this book while studying about the Industrial Revolution.

[Jean-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picture book is based on memoirs of Lowell, Massachusetts mill girls in the 1830s. It's a good starting point to discuss worker's rights as well as child labor laws. The 11-year-old and I read this to complement our Industrial Revolution history lesson.

[Anna Kozlowska · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read “The Bobbin Girl” written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, a Caldecott Medalist for one of my historical fiction children's books.
The author describes Rebecca’s long working day at the mill in Lowell, the City of Spindles and her desire to be like Judith. Rebecca is only ten years old and she is inspired by Judith’s perseverance to fight for her rights. Judith has all the women at the mill sign a petition against lowering the wages and she organizes a strike, yet gets dismissed from work for revolting. The author’s purpose in writing the book was to show how difficult it was for women to work during the 18030’s.
I like the author’s mention of the girls hiding with their reading books or them taping printed sheets and math to their looms. I also love the mentioning of how passionate the women were to pursue going to school, specifically Judith who was Rebecca’s idol. Judith was driven to go to an academy and she becomes the central focus in the story, despite Rebecca being the protagonist.
The illustrations are dull, but what stands out is the women’s hair color and style. Was the author trying to show how independent and driven women were during that time period?
I am not sure how to fit this book into a curriculum. But, I remember doing a research paper on influential women in my American History class in high school. I see how the character of Judith could be inspirational for the 1830’s time period and the women suffrage. This material is not meant for youngsters in the primary grades nor intermediate grades. I would recommend this book to middle or high school level students more as an independent read, not necessarily a read aloud.
The historical content surrounding women’s rights and the child labor is interesting, but the actual writing does not fully captivate the reader. The book contains some factual facts, like the harsh working conditions and the women’s pay cuts. It covers the gist of how the women worked, so this could work as an introduction or a summary to a history unit on the Industrial Revolution, child labor, or women suffrage.

[Davina Cuffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

1) Picture Book-Historical Fiction

2) After a decrease in pay was given to women at a Lowell mill, the women decided to turnout. The bobbin girl, Rebecca, decided to go along with the plan and soon finds out the turnout didn’t go as planned.

3a) Slow pace; Illustrations

3b) In my opinion, the beginning of a story must capture the reader’s attention, but that didn’t happen in the story. The main part of the book didn’t begin until halfway into the story. This slow pace can make readers become uninterested in the book quickly. On top of the slow pace, some of the illustrations didn’t fully tell what was going on at the time. For this to be categorized as a picture book, the reader must understand the pictures. Eventually the book picked up the pace, but it took too long.

3c) The main part of the story, which dealt with the women receiving pay cuts started at page 21. Before this, the book discussed the life of women working at the mill and included details about how the women became sick from the environment, how they were injured, and how the owner treated them. I guess the author wanted to provide insight for a factory worker from beginning to end, but most of it was unnecessary. On page 23, there was dialogue amongst three characters, and two, Rebecca and Judith, were already seen by the reader before this. The confusion comes in because in the picture there are several women, but the reader will not be able to distinguish who the other character, Keiza, is.

4) I would use this book to connect with social studies and women’s rights. This would be a way to introduce how women were treated unfairly.

[Rachel Devine]

1) Awards: none
2) Grades: Kindergarten- 2
3) This book is about the girls who worked at the mill in Lowell, Massachusetts in the mid 1830’s. The book tells the story of the walk out that happened that the mill when the women’s wages were cut and how it failed but provided a precedent. It is based on real events but the people are made up.
4) I like this book because it tells the story of an event in history that is not typically taught in history class. I also like the pictures because they are just detailed enough to understand what is going on but not distracting. I don’t like that the writing can get wordy and long at times.
5) This book is great to explain when it was like in those factories that were becoming really popular and stayed around for a long time. It can really help to explain to children what happened in those factories and the system in the factories because it is told through a young girl. This book can also be used to talk about woman’s rights, child labor and how to fight back against injustice and that even though it doesn’t always work out even a little start can help a lot.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebecca, a young bobbin girl, must work full time to help support her mother in the Lowell, Massachusetts “City of Spindles.” She sees her friends buckle under the strict and often unfair rules that give every advantage to the owner while the worker takes every risk. Following the example of one friend, Judith, Rebecca’s desire to stand up for the worker leads her to take an active role against a proposal to lower wages. The reader gets small details (the bells ruled the day), accumulating into insight in this corner of labor experience, pre-union. One feels the powerlessness and frustration of these women/girls and the watercolor illustrations also sets the mood. The author’s note at the end gives additional information about the real bobbin girl and what happened in her life. This book would be good when learning about the industrial revolution, labor unions, or background for women’s suffrage.

[Olivia Lagore]

Loosely based on a true story, The Bobbin Girl describes some of the poor working conditions in even the better factories in the 1830s. Seen through the eyes or Rebecca, a young factory worker, a group of women go on strike when their wages are cut. Although they do not win in the end, the end promises that they will try again.
Some of the book portrayed the lives of these young women as a bit too rosy, these are the more fortunate factory workers of the time, but despite this, the characters are portrayed both sympathetically and realistically, such as Huldah, one of the girls who chooses to return to work after the strike.
This would be a nice book to introduce during a unit or lesson on industrialization, paired with much more information and perhaps a few more informational books on the subject.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book after just reading Lyddie! I expected to find quite a few things that were different from the two stories though, but almost all of it was the same! Even what the characters were going through was the same, with one trying to retaliate against the factory, one wanting to go to college, and one working there to pay her brother's way through college. I think it's a great picture book adaptation of the time that girls had to go through in the factories and paints a picture of what occurred so that children can understand that point in history.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ten year old Rebecca works in a mill to help support her family. Recounts the details of her long day, 4:30am to 7pm. It seems that the women all have 'Lowell Fever,' a strong desire to read, learn and expand their minds. The money they earn at the mill is good and allows them pursue their intellectual goals. Goes into some detail about the harsh working conditions of the mill, and the fear of some women to stand up against it. Author's note includes facts that inspired this story.

[Ryan D'angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bobbin Girl by Emily Arnold McCully is about the injustices suffered by the women who worked in the cotton mills of Massachusetts. This book is told from the perspective of a young female mill worker who describes these sufferings to the reader. In light of this information, I believe that this is a well written book that teachers could incorporate into a lesson on historical fiction or the era of industrialization.

[Sherry Thornberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

So here, in this book we see the start of a union. We see women stand up and say they will not be treated as subhuman or as mere operators of the machines. The industrial revolution seems to me to have both given women freedom and taken it away at the same time. where as the girls in our story now had a means to care for themselves and their families financially, they were also slaves to the industry and had to work regardless of bad conditions.

[Trudy L · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is based on the memoirs of a young girl who was employed at the mill in Lowell, Massachusetts in the 1830's. It is a good introduction to the younger set about the working conditions in early America, and especially child labor. Nicely illustrated, it covers the first hints of labor strikes in an effort to bring about improved conditions in the workplace.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slightly fictionalized account of the first walk out in Lowell. A simple look at the origins of unions and workers rights.

[Jody Kyburz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historically accurate about life for young girls while working in the textile mills.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the Industrial Revolution and the need for labor laws.

[Ms. Tongate, TLC Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great secondary read aloud in Social Studies for the Industrial Revolution and to also bring in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of NYC.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this story and ordered Loom and Spindle, which is the actual memoir.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on a true story about Harriet Hanson Robinson (1825-1911), Alissa was really curious whether Rebecca would do the right thing.

[Jennifer Strong · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and somewhat historic tale of workers' rights and the eventual creation of unions.

[Dedra · Rating 5 out of 5]

McCully does a nice job of painting a picture of the many concerns of the mill girls. Readers will have lots to talk about with this book- child labor, work conditions, striking, and more.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great picture about women's right, strikes, and factory girls. I loved Judith, too. It was nice to see such a bold and brave woman well represented!! She was totally an ENTJ or ENFJ.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed reading books with strong female leads. The book has many strong females in it. It gives a behind the scenes look at the difficulty women would experience in the 1830s. The Bobbin Girl takes place during the time of the Industrial Revolution. It follows a young girl, named Rebecca, who works as a bobbin girl in a factory. The owners of the factory just cut the girl’s wages. Will they stand up for their rights as workers or will they continue to work in order to make ends me regardless of the pay cut? In the end, some girl move on, hopefully to better thing, but some girls ended up going back to the factory because they had no other choice. Emily Arnold McCully's use of watercolors to depict the story of Rebecca is beautiful. Her illustrations seem to have a life to them. I love how she is able to give the illustrations movement and expression.

[MaryJo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a sucker for Emily Arnold McCully's illustrations alone. This book is a gentle introduction for today's children to learn a bit of history, tragic history of how people use other people's misfortunes (poverty) to keep the rich from ***horrors!*** sharing wealth and power.

[Laura Hoyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

My class liked this book- especially since it did not end as they expected!

[Susan]

1835. Based on the life of Harriet Hanson Robinson (1825-1911).

[Arlene S]

May be hard to find at public library; publication date 1996. Caldecott winning author

[Brittney Welty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Social Science/Faction.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

See: Lyddie by Katherine Paterson for ya verson

[Sydney Rachlin]

1. This book has not won any awards.

2. Appropriate grade levels: 3-5

3. This is a historical fiction children's book that takes place in the 19th century and follows the story of a bobbin girl named, Rebecca Putney. Rebecca struggles to help support her family by working at a cotton mill. She works long hours in a hot, unsafe, and unhealthy working environment, but she endures and serves a great role model.

4. This is a great story that depicts a strong female character in the 19th century. The illustrations are beautiful and detailed. The story is deeply moving and very informative about what it was like for bobbin girls.

5. History (19th century, bobbin girl), women, historical fiction (genre), comprehension skills, reading workshops.

[Elizabeth]

This story is inspired by the real life story of Harriet Hanson Robinson (1825-1911).

I appreciated its mention of how women working in these factories made more money there than they would have in other work that was available to then -- and the inclusion of the insistence of many of the workers on continuing to educate themselves (and saving money for various goals) even though it was forbidden at the factory.

Because the protagonist's mother runs a boardinghouse, we get a good sense of the community life of the women who work in the factory. We also watch Rebecca (our protagonist) grow in various ways, influenced by the women around her and her experiences at the factory.

The Author's Note at the end provides more historical context, which I really appreciated. Excerpt: "In 1834 the mill owners had lowered the women's wages, confident they would accept the reduction. Instead many 'turned out.' They were replaced by new recruits from the countryside and mill operations returned to normal. But the precedent had been set: Workers could rebel if they were treated unfairly. My story treats this first workers' strike in Lowell, but Harriet Hanson Robinson actually took part in the next one, in 1836. That year, management announced that workers would be charged a new fee for board, reducing their take-home pay again. Young Harriet herself led the turnout from her spinning room at the Lawrence Mill. She later described it as the proudest moment of her life."