ALA Booklist (Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2018)

Shake things up is exactly what these 13 girls and women did. Among those introduced in Hood's poems are well-known names lala Yousafzai, Ruby Bridges, and Maya Lin d others who have flown under the radar, like Molly Williams, an eighteenth-century firefighter; Jacqueline and Eileen Nearne, WWII spies; and Angela Zhang, a medical scientist, who at 17 was already doing cancer research. The poems take different forms. Mary Anning, a paleontologist, is discussed in a fossil-shaped poem; the many aspects of Pura Belpré are delivered in an abece poem where each sentence begins with a succeeding letter of the alphabet; and so forth. Each subject gets a two-page spread with the poem, a brief factual note, and pictures by different illustrators. Sophie Blackall does a particularly good job with Jacqueline Nearne, depicting her as she floats into France in her parachute. Though they can vary in quality, the different artistic styles and the variety of poetry are sure to keep readers' interest. Solid matches for these extraordinary lives.

Horn Book (Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Illustrated by Thirteen "Extraordinary Women." Hood writes poems, in various styles, about fourteen young women in history who resisted and persisted--from Molly Williams, first American woman fire fighter (1780s) to activist Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize winner (2014). Each spread of this attractive book was created by a different female illustrator, including Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, LeUyen Pham, and Melissa Sweet. Reading list, timeline, websites. Bib.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Selina Alko, Sophie Blackall, and LeUyen Pham are among 13 woman illustrators whose artwork accompanies Hood-s biographical tributes to trailblazing women, several of whom are far from household names. Multistanza poems do a fine job of encapsulating each woman-s life, and they-re bolstered by quotations, supplementary paragraphs, a timeline, and back matter. -Buried Treasure,- about paleontologist Mary Anning, is a concrete poem that takes the shape of her discovery: an ichthyosaur (the phrase -fabulous flippers- forms one flipper). Swimmer Annette Kellerman, who modernized women-s swimwear, is joined by a mermaid in Emily Winfield Martin-s images (-Who can swim fifty laps/ wearing corsets and caps?- she protests after being arrested for swimming without pantaloons). These encouraging profiles of astronauts, artists, and activists both honor past accomplishments and point toward ways young readers themselves might change the world, too. Ages 4-8. Author-s agent: Brenda Bowen, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Jan.)