Starred Review This excellent biography tells the story of Madame C. J. Walker, a turn-of-the-century African American entrepreneur. Walker was born in 1867 to former slaves, but was orphaned at an early age. Her rise to owning her own business--at a time when African Americans were denied many basic freedoms and women, white and black, were unable to vote or own property--is truly inspirational. Lasky's engaging account moves smoothly through events in Walker's life, explaining why she became interested in hair care products, how she established her business, and how she used her wealth and success to help empower other African American women. The illustrations, by Nneka Bennett, are attractive and rich in historical detail, and they work well with the text to gently show the hardships faced by Walker and other African Americans of her time. Walker's feminism and work for civil rights are described in terms that will make sense to young readers. An epilogue and notes by both the author and the illustrator are included, the latter explaining Bennett's personal connection to the story. Fascinating and useful. (Reviewed July 2000)

This well-written and informative biography captures the entrepreneurial character of America's first woman millionaire. Frustrated by the lack of hair care products for African American women, Walker founded her own cosmetics company in 1905, becoming one of the most successful business owners of her day and a role model for black women. The spacious illustrations evoke the time period in this "reformatted edition."

The girl who was to become Mme. C.J. Walker was born Sarah Breedlove, in poverty, to ex-slave, sharecropper parents in rural Louisiana in1876. Orphaned at seven, married at fourteen, she was a widowed mother of a three-year-old daughter at only nineteen. As the first African-American woman entrepreneur, she transformed the image of African-American women, identifying and marketing products for their unique cosmetic and beauty needs. Lasky ( A Brilliant Streak , 1998, etc.) has crafted an inspirational narrative that effectively turns on a succession of dramatic or emblematic moments in Mme. Walker's life: hearing Margaret (Mrs. Booker T.) Washington speak; praying and dreaming of Africa; being inspired to use herbs and natural oils to cure her hair loss; giving her own speech (the only one by a woman) at the National Negro Business League. Walker created a beauty empire based on direct sales. Facing racism and sexism, she developed her own formularies, designed her own advertising, built her own factories, hired women managers, and trained her army of direct-sales representatives. She validated pride, demonstrating a unique definition of beauty free from the standards of the majority culture. Walker's life continues to resonate as a model for self-realization, self-sufficiency, and community-building. Lasky effectively uses actual quotes while "responsibly imagining" situations to best reflect her subject's life and experiences. Lasky also opted for the use of the term "colored" as a more historically accurate term. Bennett's earth-toned, full-page, pencil and watercolor paintings add immediacy and intimacy while advancing the narrative . (Picture book/biography. 8-10)

Gr 2-4-Through a readable text and wonderful illustrations, Lasky brings to life one of the most successful women entrepreneurs in the United States. The author's research is extremely thorough, including interviews with her subject's great-great granddaughter. The narrative traces Breedlove's girlhood as the first free-born child of former slaves in Louisiana to her hard life as a laundress and single mother in St. Louis. The text explains that her interest in natural plants and oils to treat the hair of "colored" women stemmed from her own experience with damaged hair. Working with formulas in her own small laboratory, Breedlove began producing hair products. After her marriage to Charles Walker, she was able to open a factory in Pittsburgh. To sell her products, she enlisted black women of all ages to market them door to door. By 1912, the Mme. C. J. Walker Company was one of the largest companies in America. Lasky emphasizes the contributions of Walker and the company to the well being of black women and the community. Bennett's full-page watercolors give faces to the characters without overwhelming the text. Their pacing and placement help move the story along. This impressive picture book will delight young readers as it gives a sense of this remarkable woman and the times in which she lived.-Barbara Buckley, Rockville Centre Public Library, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.