When labor leader Clara Lemlich thought 'the factory's conditions made women into machines,' we see rows of mono-tinted garment workers bent over dreary, crowded worktables.

She often includes kids in the art, sometimes depicting the women as kids themselves, and finds many ways to humanize the text.

But other profiles feel more generic - for instance, some women persisted despite the fact that 'not everyone agreed' or 'few people thought' they could.Īlexandra Boiger's warm, appealing illustrations are outstanding and provide engaging human detail. It goes a long way, for instance, when we read that 'Oprah Winfrey's grandmother expected Oprah to follow in her footsteps and become a maid.' We can almost hear those conversations and feel the weight of that crushing expectation. It's too bad the women's stories aren't a bit more information-rich, with more telling, personal details to make them come alive. Chelsea Clinton's choices of women for She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World are a fresh mix, some iconic and others not often profiled, such as Native American ballerina Maria Tallchief and doctor Virginia Apgar. These short profiles of 13 brave, accomplished women capitalize on the current feminist rallying cry 'She persisted' and are bite-sized fare for the young.

The profiles, which are warmed up considerably by the lovely, affecting art, encourage girls to 'remember these women. Clinton includes women of various races from different eras and a wide span of professional fields, as well as one woman with a disability ( Helen Keller). It includes iconic figures like Harriet Tubman, as well as relatively unsung women like garment industry labor organizer Clara Lemlich. Parents need to know that She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, a picture book by Chelsea Clinton ( It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!) and illustrated by Alexandra Boiger ( Tallulah's Tutu), is a compilation of 13 short inspirational profiles of American women who persisted despite obstacles or negative societal expectations. Their accomplishments span civil rights and labor, sports, science and medicine, the arts, media, journalism, politics, and law. Thirteen excellent female role models from across different fields and of different races and backgrounds, as well as one woman with disabilities.

She persisted board book