Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley March 20, 2019
Author Kate Pankhurst
Distributor: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
ISBN: 9781408899267
Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens Books
Release Date: Febraury 2019
Website: https://www.bloomsbury.com/au
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Kate Pankhurst is back with the next line-up of magnificent women who defied societies strict rules relating to women, and went on to make a huge difference with her latest book, Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders.
Presented in the graphic novel style, but also containing a historic pathway to travel, thirteen women who did make a massive difference, not just in their jobs but also to the way society eventually reviewed the role of the women, have been selected for their talent, skill, bravery and refusal to accept the dictates of society at the time.
Many were dreamers, many were visionaries, all of them created changes which have gone to contribute to the standing of women in modern day society and the many, diversified roles women are now able to carry out in their working life.
Maria Sybylla Merian was born in Germany in the 1650’s, a time when women had little if any opportunity to work, study or to travel. She loved to collected and study insects and because of this people of the times felt she was very strange indeed! She never, ever thought her love of insects would see her travel to such places as Amsterdam and Suriname in South America, and then publish a book of her findings. Her work helped people to understand the natural world, with many of the artworks and notations still used today.
Volcanologist was not a job title Katia Kraft invented for herself, it was a title she earned by getting a up close and personal to active volcanos as possible, spending years studying their activities and many, many times placing herself in great danger. She and husband Maurice were a formidable team for twenty years, before tragically losing their lives on Mount Unzen in Japan in 1991. Her scientific research has gone on to help save many lives.
Th Matchbox Girls as they became known, worked in terrible conditions in the factory of Bryant and May making matches. They were paid very little and had no rights at all. Eventually they spoke to women’s rights campaigner Annie Besant and in June 1988 presented their sad story to the public. The public were horrified at what was going on. The factory workers thought they could ignore the problem but eventually the girls staged a walkout, went on strike and founded the first Union of Women Matchmakers, which lead to better wages and conditions.
These and ten more inspiring stories are well present to be enjoyed. The women who created history are to be admired, applauded and held up as role models to state clearly, that anything is possible, anything can be achieved and that with Dreaming Big, as Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders proved, wonderous things, big and small, can be achieved!
Another terrific book from Kate Pankhurst every young girl who aspires to great things should read.