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Middle Grade Biographies on Women Scientists, Social Scientists and Mathematicians
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Now if I approach Anita Silvey's Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall primarily and only from how the author has textually and thematically shown Jane Goodall's life and work, I would gladly and without hesitation consider four if not even five stars. For yes indeed and in almost every way, Untamed: The Life of Jane Goodall is from a printed word point of view a perfectly conceptualised and presented middle grade biography, featuring more than enough detail and information regarding Jane Goodall's life and on her career as a primate (and of course first and foremost a chimpanzee) scientist in Africa (including Goodall's conservation and charity work, not to mention that the supplemental information and resources included and found at the back of Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall are expansive, featuring both maps and many suggestions for further reading) but thankfully also without ever becoming overly detailed or making use of too much scientific nomenclature and jargon, so that Anita Silvey's text fortunately therefore avoids having Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall become too wordy and thereby potentially a tedious reading experience for the intended age group (for older children from about the age of ten to thirteen or fourteen, although in my opinion. Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall is actually and indeed also a very good and decent general introduction for interested adult readers who might want a detailed but still manageable and not overly long biography on Jane Goodall).
However and that having been said, I personally actually have still found Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall rather a difficult and occasionally even painful for my eyes reading experience, as the font size of the printed words, as how Anita Silvey's writing appears on the pages of Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall is so ridiculously minuscule that even with my reading glasses, I was often having trouble figuring out words that appeared blurry and unclear to me (and this especially in areas of the book where instead of a black on white, there was a white on orange or a white on green contrast). And yes, albeit the accompanying photographs of Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall are certainly aesthetically stunning and do provide a wonderful visual mirror to and for Anita Silvey's narrative, sometimes there do seem to be textual blurbs that at least to and for my eyes interfere with the featured photographs and vice versa. And therefore, while I do indeed very highly recommend Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall textually, my visual issues with general legibility and that Anita Silvey's featured narrative is just and simply much too frustratingly small for my eyes, this does indeed make me only consider three stars maximum for Untamed: The Wild Life of Jane Goodall, as the older I get and the more my eyes do age, the less patience I am willing and able to muster for printed texts that are too small in format and font size or have potentially hard on my vision colour contrasts.
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A quick, enlightening, sweetly engaging (and fascinating) read is Monica Kulling's Mary Anning's Curiosity, presenting not only Mary Anning's life story from her miraculous deliverance as a toddler (being struck by lightning and surviving, whilst three adult women, including the neighbour holding her were killed) to her first major fossil find, her so-called curiosity, the very first discovery of what the scientific community now calls an ichthyosaur, an ancient aquatic lizard (in complete form), Mary Anning's Curiosity also introduces young readers to early 19th century England (especially to the coastal regions of Cornwall, to Lyme Regis in particular) and to the many problems and potential tragedies working class families such as the Annings often faced (no social safety net, the very real threat of prison for entire families if debts could not be paid, the ravages of diseases such as tuberculosis).
Highly recommended, with the expansive and detailed author's notes along with suggestions for further reading being appreciated added bonuses that much augment both teaching and learning potentials/values of Mary Anning's Curiosity. However, I do have to wonder a bit at the so vehemently negative depictions of Lord Henley in Mary Anning's Curiosity, simply because the same Lord Henley is depicted rather majorly differently and as a primarily positive and much supportive of Mary Anning individual in a picture book on the latter I have read, in Jeannine Atkins' Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon, and I am now of course left to ask and speculate as to whose depiction really is the truth here, or whether it actually lies somewhere between Jeannine Atkins' positive and Monica Kulling's negative and critical portrayals, and that sadly, said truth will also likely be very difficult to ascertain, as both authors have not used either footnotes or endnotes, which makes researching their presented information of the facts surrounding Mary Anning's childhood, including how Lord Henley has been portrayed, much more difficult.
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While each chapter heading of Joyce Sidman's The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Marian's Art Changed Science features one of Sidman's signature (and as usual quite simply exquisite and magical) poems, I for one did not even really notice them all that much at first (simply because I was and yes remain so enchanted and delighted with and by the main narrartive, with the author's concise, readable and massively enlighteninging biography of Maria Sibylla Merian, a German artist of the latter 17th and early 18th century, who is now considered by many to likely also have been one of the first entymologists and ecologists).
Accompanied by an absolute treasure trove of Maria Sibylla Merian's signature, detailed artwork of moths, butterflies, flowers, trees and the like, as well as additional historical and cultural information on topics as diverse as the witch crazes in Europe from 1450-1750, the first museums, moth versus butterfly, slavery in Surinam etc., The Girl Who Drew Butterflies focusses on the main and essential points of Merian's life (from her childhood in Frankfurt to her solo travels with her daughter Dorothea to the Dutch colony of Surinam), presenting a both interesting and always engaging, approachable account (suitable for older children from about the age of eleven or so, but really, also of much potential interest to and for adults, especially since while in Europe, and especially in Germany, Maria Sibylla Merian's legacy and artwork are pretty well known now, this has not really and unfortunately all that much been the case in especially North America). Highly recommended (with the detailed bibliographical information, timelines and source acknowledgements being appreciated added bonuses, and indeed, the only reason, I am ranking The Girl Who Drew Butterflies with four stars instead of five stars is that the blurb regarding the witch crazes in Europe is in my opinion rather misleading, as Joyce Sidman seems to claim and insinuate with her words that this was only or at least mostly a phenomenon in Germany, which is patently untrue, as the rampant fear of witchcraft, sorcery and its resulting inquisitions were equally present in areas of France, Switzerland, Austria etc., that it was a pan-European and not just a German scenario).
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For me, Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby's Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer is probably one of the if not actually the most extensive and intensive general illustrated biography of mid 17th to early 18th century German artist Maria Sibylla Merian (who is also now considered to have been one of the first entomologists and ecologists) I have perused to date. Readable, informative, featuring very much information and detail, but thankfully also without in my humble opinion ever getting bogged down with either too much art or science specific jargon, Pomeroy and Kathirithamby present a succinct (less than 100 page) but still always more than informative enough portrait of Merian's life and times (divided into five enlightening and interesting sections, from her childhood in Frankfurt to Maria Sibylla Merian's final years as a bona fide European celebrity, a single woman who with her daughter had travelled solo to the Dutch South American colony of Surinam and had then resided there until 1701 to collect, study and draw its many plants and insects, its varied and lushly tropical flora and fauna).
Accompanied by simply a plethora and aesthetically awe-inspiring smorgasbord of Maria Sibylla Merian's artwork (as well as diverse paintings depicting artist studios, a 1670 city view of Amsterdam etc.), Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer presents a truly wonderful, scientifically, historically and culturally sound and exceedingly well researched combination of text and images, an enlightening and approachable (but also narrationally dense and delightfully academic) introduction to a woman who in many ways was totally ahead of her time, who in mid 16th to early 17th century Germany, the Netherlands and yes Surinam was both an independent artist and indeed also a scientist (a botanist and entomologist). And although after Maria Sibylla Merian's death in 1717, while her drawings of flowers, insects and the like were certainly often used and consulted by the establishment, by scientists such as Carl Linnaeus, Merian herself and especially her scientific observations were generally both overlooked and disparaged simply because of her gender and also of course because she was actually and truly quite avant-guarde so to speak with regard to her approaches to biology, zoology, botany and yes even ecology, Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer shows and depicts that since the 1970s, Maria Sibylla Merian has thankfully and fortunately been increasingly feted and globally celebrated as not only an artist of talent and renown but also as one of the earliest scientific observers and and studiers of insects and their diverse life cycles.
Highly recommended (and with the supplemental materials at the back of Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer being appreciated added academic bonuses, especially the list of organisms that have been named after and in honour of Maria Sibylla Merian and the extensive bibliographic lists, which have, glory be, been divided into both primary and secondary resource sections), although I (personally) would definitely not suggest this book as a biography for readers younger than about fourteen or so (and no, there is nothing even remotely inappropriate or of questionable content and thematics with regard to Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer, just that Sarah B. Pomeroy and Jeyaraney Kathirithamby's presented narrative, that their printed words are in my humble opinion a trifle too dense, too academically involved, too potentially difficult comprehension wise for younger readers).
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Not middle grade.But so interesting."
You should be posting picture book biographies of women in the Picture Book Club, in the topic "Outstanding Women." This thread is for middle grade biographies.
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My review:
Won't rate. The book will be wonderfully inspiring to tweens, but I found it too simple. The pictures are great, bright & clear & apt, but not always necessary for a perfect understanding (so I could read this fairly quickly instead of studying each panel like I feel compelled to w/ some graphic books).
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The term "picture book" refers to a format, not an age range. A picture book has at least 50% illustrations to text, regardless of what age the text is aimed at. Most picture books are unpaged, between 32 and 48 pages. So picture book biographies aimed at older readers should still be posted in the Picture Book Club. This thread should probably be reserved for chapter books with few to no illustrations.
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The term "picture book" refers to a format, not an a..."
I would agree, but graphic novels should be included in my opinion. And we do have a very detailed and expansive thread for Outstanding Women in the PBC.
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The term "picture book" refers to a ..."
I don't consider graphic novels as picture books. They are a different format from picture books, since the vast majority of them are the size of chapter books, and most of them have many more pages than picture books. A lot of graphic novels, although not all, are also divided into chapters.
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas (other topics)Maryam's Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani (other topics)
One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World's Oldest University (other topics)
Maryam's Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani (other topics)
Maria Sibylla Merian: Artist, Scientist, Adventurer (other topics)
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And am starting with just wanting to say that the just released biography The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner is wonderful and highly recommended, a rare five stars for me.
The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner
There indeed is a lot that is totally and utterly spectacular and delightful regarding Marissa Moss' 2022 middle grade biography The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner (and I for one am also rather hoping that The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner might even be considered as a possible Newbery candidate because perosnally I do think Marissa Moss and her The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner richly and majorly deserve being considered).
Yes, Lise Meitner faced many difficulties and obstacles trying to obtain for herself the education and the academic choices she desired (in late 19th and early 20th century Austria and Germany). But unlike other biographical accounts about Lise Meitner I have read in the past (and which had actually and problematically tried to claim that Meitner's family did not support her pursuit of advanced post secondary education and that a large part of Meitner's struggles for this was also supposedly mostly if not only because she was Jewish), author Marissa Moss thankfully, fortunately and from page one onwards of The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner makes textually absolutely certain that her readers know and realise that Lise Meitner's parents (and in particular the father) ALWAYS SUPPORTED AND ENCOURAGED their daughters (with older sister Gisela studying medicine and Lise studying physics) and that the one main reason why until the laws changed in Germany in 1908, Lise Meitner could not attend university was absolutely NOT because she was Jewish but because of her gender, because she was female (in other words, until 1908, NO women were allowed to officially attend a German university, period, and it was Lise Meitner's "wrong" gender that was the "problem" and the obstacle and not at all her Jewish background and cultural heritage (and indeed, the latter in fact only became an issue and a threat post 1933, post the Nazi takeover of the German government, so indeed and in my opinion, any author claiming that Lise Meitner had problems obtaining her education due to her ethnicity and not due to her gender is simply wrong, wrong, wrong, and I sure am glad that Marissa Moss does not ever fall into said trap in and with The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner).
Now as much as I have absolutely and totally enjoyed (and also academically appreciated) reading The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner, I also do not consider The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner to be perfect and as such above criticism, as I personally do find it more than a bit uncomfortable that in the author's note Marissa Moss seems to (in my humble opinion) engage in a bit of victim blaming regarding the fact that Lise Meitner at first did not consider herself as a rather conservative physics professor in good academic standing as being in any real danger from the Nazis due to her Jewish background, with the unfortunate result that Lise Meitner kept waiting and waiting and hoping for the Nazis to calm down a bit until she almost ended up stranded in Germany (and we all know what would have likely been the horrible outcome for Lise Meitner had this happened). But hindsight is always 20/20, and it is sadly true that many more conservative, more right wing leaning Jews in Germany and Austria did not at first realise just how much of am all encompassing threat the National Socialists were and would be to and for them (and considering that this rather simplistic and dangerously optimistic attitude was also the case with regard to many European nations like for example the United Kingdom with its policy of Appeasement, who are we to really in any way pass judgment and to simply be labelling the Jews who failed to understand the Nazis as being a danger as naive and as foolish, as this seems to have been common and global).
But even with there being for me some very minor textual issues with The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner, Marissa Moss's narrative, her printed words are spectacular, readable, interestingly, engagingly penned and also very nicely relatable (although I personally do have to admit finding the short graphic novel bits at the beginning of each chapter somewhat visually distracting). A solid four stars for The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner but upped to five, as the supplemental materials Marissa Moss has included (timelines, a glossary, mini biographies of the scientists mentioned, notes and last but not least a very decent bibliography) are not only outstanding, they also move The Woman Who Split the Atom: The Life of Lise Meitner from very good to absolutely and totally superb and great.