For a boost, turn to Ellen Bailey

Because children's books deserve attention too (and also because I lucked out and won a copy on Twitter from Buster Books) (and also because it's a good book) I thought I'd write up a brief review of I am a Wonder Woman by Ellen Bailey.

Published to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8th March this year, I am a Wonder Woman is one empowering activity book. Following the insane boom of Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls that shook children's publishing across the globe, we are seeing more and more books aimed at the younger generation that heralds the successes of notable women throughout history - and from ancient Egyptian royalty through activists, artists and scientists, there are notes on an extremely wide variety of women, their lives and their achievements. If that wasn't enough fun for you, each person is paired with a follow-up activity that helps think further about these people's lives, areas of work and what they believe(d) in.

What did I like about it?

As I mention above, there is a good selection of women discussed in the book from all parts of the world and all parts of history. The language is accessible too - in fact, so accessible that I'm not sure what age the book is intended for. (Yes, I definitely filled out most of the activities already. So what?) It's not crowded with years of birth and death - instead it focuses on the message that these people were/are trying to get out into the world, and how they are doing it.

The activities are also wide-ranging and, I must say, inspirational. Most of them are writing exercises, including a lot of self-reflection and fantasy situations, which I remember absolutely adoring as a kid. Remember how we never used to care as kids who would be reading what we write, or whether anyone would be reading it at all? Good times.

But there are quirkier challenges too. For example, for Ada Lovelace, readers are encouraged to write a step-by-step guide on how to build a cheese sandwich, thereby getting us to think about how programming works. It's clever.

What was I not massively fond of?

There is a slight inconsistency in the amount of information shared on the women, and although I understand that this is mostly to avoid having a monotone design pattern, I still think some of them deserved more spotlight than what they got. I think there were perhaps cleverer ways of changing the pages around than cutting down on text.

Another thing that I noticed - and I apologise for picking at the details, because I do love the illustrations - is that all the women are drawn in white. I know it's an illustrative choice, and perhaps I'm even interpreting it wrong and it's meant to convey a positive message about how skin colour doesn't matter. But I think that, perhaps thinking with a child's mind, this might be a little bit confusing.

There, hard part out of the way.

Overall...

Would I get this for my daughter? Yes, definitely. Would I get it for my baby boy? Even more so.

This is not a feminist book. This is a history book. And it's awesome. The combo of knowledge and motivational exercises really hits home, and I do hope that many smart parents will be picking it up.


7/10