Wild Women of the Wild West

by Jonah Winter, Susan Guevara (Illustrator)

Annie Oakley could shoot a gun better than any man in the Wild West. Mary Fields hauled stones and lumber; when one man challenged her, she beat him in a gunfight.

Time after time, Polly Pry, a newspaper reporter, risked her life when she exposed bad guys and wrote the truth. And Sarah Winnemucca, daughter of a Paiute chief, fought in battle, negotiated peace between Indians and settlers, and gained civil rights for her people.

Biographical sketches, color portraits and sepia line drawings reveal the accomplishments of fifteen amazing women whose adventurous spirit helped build our nation.

Genres: Nonfiction, Picture Books, Biography, History, Middle Grade, Historical, Womens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 30, 2007

About the author

Jonah Winter is the celebrated author of many picture book biographies, including Barack, which was a New York Times bestseller. His books include Here Comes the Garbage Barge, Sonia Sotomayor, Roberto Clemente, and more. A poet and a painter, Mr. Winter divides his time between Santa Fe and a small town in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Amber]

I've been ruminating on this review for a few days....but there's just no way around it: I found this book to be problematic and disappointing.

First, this is a book that really should have been written by a woman. Maybe if it had been, the issues would not exist.

The problems I found were with many of the women that were celebrated: murders, madams, swindlers, thugs. Women known for violence and other distasteful acts. These women were strong and a force in their own right, but these are not the women I want to be celebrating.

There were women in the West that made a difference. Women who fiercely fought for their people or their dream, whatever either of those might be. Those women are sorely missed in this book.

There were two Native American women (Sarah Winnemucca and The-Other-Magpie) and one tough African American woman (Mary Fields) briefly included in this collection - I wish there were more of women like them and less of Calamity Jane, Belle Starr, 'La Tules' and others. There were often mentions of a woman's height and weight and how she dressed or carried herself, celebrating her more masculine aspects. It felt almost if she was being celebrated or remembered because she was like a man, not necessarily because of her actions or the results of her actions.

It just....didn't sit right with me. Then I went on to peruse Rad Women Worldwide which actually DOES include all sorts of amazing and impactful women.

I gave this book 2 stars because though I found the content to be a let-down, I did enjoy the illustrations. Susan Guevara talked a little about her historical research and study into the characters of these women and how/why she chose to represent them the way in which she did; they are thoughtful and beautiful.

[Cheryl]

My only complaint was the addition of Lola Montez. She sounds like a bored, rich girl, who had nothing else better to do but to come "play" in the Wild West.

In my opinion, she's undeserving of being placed next to some of these other women who struggled and suffered so much, (and prevailed) and not by choice.

[Luann]

Jonah Winter writes about a nice variety of fierce, courageous and feisty women of the Wild West. Each woman is featured on two pages, one page for text and the other for an illustration by Susan Guevara. The illustrations really helped bring each woman to life. I thought the biographical information was quite well done, with very interesting details and nice yet brief coverage of the life of each woman. There were a few opinions given that I didn't feel were necessary in a book like this - which brought my rating down to three stars. I was very interested to see a map of the US in 1850 at the end.

[Kara]

While it’s encouraging to see a fuller picture of the Old West presented here – the Revisionist school of history at its finest – it is still depressing to see almost every biography entry end with a note that each woman achieved only inches of progress when, in all fairness, each and every effort deserved miles.

Loved seeing the true diversity of many spectrums, and any one of the women here would make an awesome bio-pic.

[Michael Huscusson]

There are many iconic women like Belle Star and Annie Oakley present in the 1800’s. This book describes many different women, each with a portrait and biography, that range from outlaws and sharpshooters to entertainers and reporters. The portraits show the different clothing styles that each woman wore back in that era, which is very different than today's world. This book gives readers an insight of what that era was like and shows the differences from today’s world. This book would fit perfectly with a lesson about history in the West during the 1800’s, listing off many iconic figures in that era.
Critique: While this story does give you insight on people from our past that most students have never heard of, a student might get bored with this type novel. Each page talks about a new person and their lifestyle but is the same format one each page.

[Rosa Cline]

I did like this book as each page is a different woman so you didn't have to sit and read the entire book at once if you didn't want to. However, I don't honestly know if all the things that are said on the pages are 'true'... but it does give ideas to be able to do your own research about different women. Popular ones are in here along with ones that I had never heard of either. Nicely done.

[Allison Turkish]

I liked this book a whole lot, both words and pictures. I learned about all sorts of cool women: some who were great at shooting, some that owned restaurants and boarding houses, some who entertained, and a couple who stole things like horses.

Native Americans, Black women, a couple of 6' tall woman who were 180 pounds.

All interesting!

[wildct2003]

Reads as if one is listening to a professional storyteller.

Motivated me to reserve more books on certain characters (Mary Fields, Polly Pry, Nellie Cashman).

[Baroness]

If you want to read about fearless women then this book will wet your whistle. The information is brief so I suggest you do your research on these badasses.

[Robin]

Single page bios of some interesting women that lived in the West during the 1800s.

[Karrie K]

Name: Karrie Kennett

Title and Citation:
Winter, J. (2011). Wild women of the wild west. New York, NY : Holiday House.

Type of Reference: Biographical Reference

Call Number: 920.720978

Brief Description: This biography contains a variety of unknown “wild women” of the old west. The women featured are from a variety of walks of life, nationalities, and races. A great addition to any shelf! Recommended by Booklist.

Citation of a Review:
Phelan, C. (2011, December 1). Wild women of the wild west. [Review of the book Wild women of the wild west, by J. Winter]. Booklist Online. Available from http://www.booklistonline.com. libsrv.wku.edu/Wild-Women-of-the-Wild...

Cost: $17.00

Relevance and Relationship: This selection would be a great resource to students as they learn about American History in the fourth and fifth grade. It also focuses on a variety of women, not just Caucasian women, in that era. This book contains fifteen biographical accounts with a portrait of each women accompanying it.

Purpose: The purpose of this reference material is to build understanding of the old west and women who were important in a time when women were often viewed as the weaker sex. It also demonstrates that women of many nationalities and colors were also involved.

Validity: The school currently has nothing similar which gives students, parents, and teachers a guide of women involved in the “wild west” and focuses on American History.

Format: The format for this text is print.

Arrangement and Presentation: Each entry in the book contains a biographical account and portiat of each of the fifteen astonishing women of the wild west.

Diversity: This book would be a great representation of diversity in nationalities and races, furthering the belief that America is a “melting pot” of cultures.

[Amy]

The only thing this book has going for it are 15 fascinating women. This is truly one of the most poorly written books that I have read. I will just hit the highlights...first, I'm not sure how well researched the information was. It felt a little like the author had pulled some facts off of Wikipedia. Some of the women had lots of biographical information and others you could tell the author was just desperately trying to fill the page. And his descriptions of the women always seemed to include commentary on their height and weight...for example..."Carry Nation was as big as the nation. She was six feet tall and weighed one hundred and eighty pounds. That's BIG!" (p. 26) WHAT????!!! Would love to learn more about these remarkable, interesting women but this book was seriously appalling!!!

[Angie]

I was really looking forward to reading this book about the wild women in the Wild West, but was disappointed with the execution of it. The book does profile some truly fascinating women like Carrie Nation and Annie Oakley, but the information given about each is too brief. Winter barely gives each woman a page of text to tell their entire life stories. Some of the information seems very general and random. Winter also seems especially fascinated by the bigger women. There are at least three in this book who were giants...6 feet tall and 180 pounds...yes all three were those dimensions exactly. Really?!?! I think the biggest disappointment was the poor writing. The transitions between sentences were horrible; my English teachers would have covered this book in red ink. Too brief, poorly written and sketchy research. Not a book I would recommend.

[Mary Ann]

Mothers and grandmothers would do well to read this book to their daughters and/or granddaughters! It wouldn’t even be a bad idea to have sons and grandsons read this recounting of some of the pioneers of women’s rights in the Wild West of America. There is something here for all ages, and both genders that can inspire and empower young or older women to dare to reach out for goals and a better life for themselves. American history lessons could certainly be spiced up with any of the stories from the known and lesser know women who lived during the time known as “the wild, wild west!” A time line, period map, and bibliography compliment these stories that bring this period of history to life.

[Janice]

Half truths, exaggerations, and lies – that's what this book is made up of. I would have labeled this historical fiction. Historical because it has some real names used, but fiction because of the myths perpetuated by this book. I was really disappointed. I give this one star because the art. The artwork with this is interesting.

There are so many interesting stories on women in the wild west. Why would someone choose to add to the lies surrounding some of these women? I know that because this book is for children, you would have to gloss over some of their backgrounds, but otherwise stick to the facts. I will stop before the rant goes on....

I recommend this book for nothing but the artwork.

[Piper Stallings]

This book is a biography of women who lived in the west throughout the 1800s. I really liked the way each page was a new story, because there were so many different, yet interesting things to read about. I specifically liked the story about Annie Oakley. I like any woman who isn't afraid to show off her skillset, regardless of what anyone thinks about it. I also really enjoyed the story about The Other Magpie as well. I thought it was interesting to read about this American Indian, considering like the book says, there aren't many stories written down that we know of. Overall, I thought this was an interesting book and as a future educator, I think this one would be cool to have available so I could read a few of the stories out of it in my social studies classroom.

[Rachel]

Fifteen brave, groundbreaking women of the west are featured in Wild Women of the Wild West, with a one page biography and a portrait of each woman. The stories of these womens' unique lives are engaging and inspirational. Winter chose to include well know characters like sharpshooter, Annie Oakley and other, lesser known women such as Mary Ellen Pleasant, businesswoman and underground railroad agent in San Fransisco. An introduction, time-line of the Wild West, and map of the United States in 1850 provide context for the stories of these amazing women.

[Sharon]

All in all, this is a good book which details the contributions of women from all walks of life to the fabric of life in the western US. These fifteen women represent the gamut of professions, race and ethnic diversity. Although there are no photos, all but two illustrations are based on actual photos. Includes an extensive bibliography, a timeline, and a map.

[Elnara Browers]

Summary: biographical info on Calamity Jane, Mary Fields, Mary Elizabeth Lease, Lola Montez, Annie Oakley, Carry N. Nation, etc.
Mentor writing trait: idea - brief important info about a person. Presentation: fun illustrations-portraits of the famous women.
Book level:
middle grades 4-8, ATOS level 6.0
Lexile 850L, ages 8-10.
Recommendations: social studies, suffrage, careers, professions, women.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)]

An interesting collection of biographies of 15 unique women representing several cultures and a variety of "careers". Each woman is featured with a picture and a page of text. Some of the editorializing (is that even a word) seemed unnecessary.

[Erin]

This book would be much better if it stuck to the facts. The author interjects his thoughts and opinions in a manner that distracts from the accomplishments of the women featured in each short biography. This book has great potential; it just falls short in delivering on it.

[Angie Fehl]

I give it four stars for the gorgeous artwork (the main reason I got the book), deducting one star for the so-so writing. It's okay, gives you a general overview (it is meant for children, after all) but if you are looking to really learn about these women, I would suggest supplemental sources.

[Edward Sullivan]

Engaging and informative profiles, an attractively designed collective biography.

[Amy Holley]

Great information - I would have loved it, except I agree with other reviewers about the random editorializing...disappointing, as this is a unique collection.

[Kayla]

Interesting nonfiction read. Includes biographies of 15 women who shaped the west. Very informative.

[Dana Pressnell]

Short collection of women from the Wild West. One to two page biography on each woman.

[Lori Gravley]

This book consists of 16 prose passages about wild western women, a forward and an afterword. The passages are ~300 words each.

[Marianne]

the 4th star is for the absolutely delightful illustrations. Soooo good.