Review by New York Times Review
at A literacy center in Brooklyn where I volunteered a couple of years ago, I was often surprised by which books would catch a child's eye. It was not always the ones with bold jackets or zany titles, as I somehow expected. Often it would be a quiet story - a bit old-fashioned, even. One favorite was Barbara Cooney's 1982 "Miss Rumphius," about a girl who grows up wanting to fulfill her grandfather's request that she do something "to make the world more beautiful." After many travels she finally returns home and plants a lot of blue and purple lupines in the fields around her house. The end. I loved to watch how intently a young reader would turn the pages and puzzle out this modest and satisfying conclusion. I enjoyed the story, too - and while it was partly inspired by a real-life figure, I wanted it to be all true. Publishers of today's picture books must be on my wavelength. Perhaps nudged by the Common Core crusade, which called in part for high-quality nonfiction for children, they are producing a bonanza of beautifully illustrated and closely researched nonfiction books about unsung heroes as well as heroes we can't read enough about. Best of all, if you like true stories, they include superbly detailed endnotes and suggestions for further reading. It's anyone's guess which of these new books a child might reach for - but it might surprise you. CHILDREN who love words should warm to Alexandria Giardino's ode to an onion: Pablo Neruda and His Muse (Cameron Kids, 32 pp., $17.95; ages 4 to 8), which imagines a small episode in the life of a great poet. The spare prose echoes Neruda's own celebrations in verse of simple things, like the onion: "luminous vessel... bright as a planet," vanquishing "the hunger / of the laborer along the hard road." We first see Pablo at his desk, "writing a long, sad poem," until he realizes he's about to be late for lunch with his friend Mathilde. In Felicita Sala's vivacious and beautifully detailed drawings, done in colored pencil, Mathilde's smile and Pablo's glum expression give a tender humor to this real-life relationship, as they gather vegetables from her garden to cook. The full text of his poem "Ode to the Onion" appears in the original Spanish at the end, and in an excellent translation by Giardino. SO TALL WITHIN: Sojourner Truth's Long Walk Toward Freedom (Roaring Brook, 32 pp., $18.99; ages 5 to 9), written by Gary D. Schmidt and illustrated by Daniel Minter, is a stirring introduction to an extraordinary life. Born into slavery on a Dutch farm in New York State, Sojourner Truth chose her own name after she won her freedom and began a walk that, over her long life, extended to thousands of miles as she journeyed from camp meetings to abolition halls "to tell the truth about Slavery." She never learned to read or write, yet successfully sued a white slaveholder in court for the return of her son (who had been illegally sold), addressed the first Women's Rights Conventions, and insisted on riding in whites-only streetcars in Washington, D.C., after the Civil War. "I felt so tall within - I felt as if the power of a nation was with me!" The plain-spoken and eloquent quotations in this book come directly from her 1878 memoir, "Narrative of Sojourner Truth." Daniel Minter's paintings, in saturated tones of midnight blues and leaf browns and golds, bring it powerfully to life. did you know that Japan bombed Oregon during World War II? I didn't either. Sometimes the most inconsequential episodes in larger stories can turn out to be the most moving, and so it is with thirty minutes OVER OREGON: A Japanese Pilot's World War II Story (Clarion, 32 pp., $17.99; ages 6 to 9), by Marc Tyler Nobleman, illustrated by Melissa Iwai. After Pearl Harbor, apparently, the Japanese military believed a successful attack on the United States mainland would be effective propaganda, so in 1942 a bombing raid was planned to start a fire in the Oregon woods that would "rage into nearby towns and cities." Iwai's fine renderings of the unsuspecting townspeople of Brookings, Ore., are matched by her depictions of the bomber, which was launched from a Japanese submarine deck by slingshot. Fortunately, the plan failed, but the story goes someplace completely unexpected when, years later, the boosterish citizens of Brookings track down the pilot, Nobuo Fujita, to invite him to a Memorial Day ceremony. He is welcomed warmly - and even teased about his poor fire-setting skills - and friendships made that day continue to grow for another generation and beyond, until his story becomes a thought-provoking meditation on the power of forgiveness, of others and oneself. the "girls who code" movement should probably get some extra credit for the trend in fine books about women who made history in science and math, nothing STOPPED SOPHIE: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain (Little, Brown, 32 pp., $17.99; ages 4 to8), written by Cheryl Bardoe and illustrated by Barbara McClintock, tells the story of a young woman who made her mark in the lofty academies of Paris after the French Revolution. With trouble in the streets, Sophie was often forced to stay inside for her safety, and she fell in love with the study of mathematics. She would even sneak out of bed to work on problems while everyone was asleep. Her parents' response? To take away her candles! Yet she didn't give up, and in 1816, after years of work, she won a grand prize from the Royal Academy of Sciences for solving an "impossible" problem: how to predict patterns of vibration, a real-life challenge to designers of buildings and bridges. Barbara McClintock's illustrations in markers, gouache and collage show Sophie moving through life in a bright swirl of numbers, floating like thought balloons all around her. Refreshingly, Sophie Germain's story not only reminds us of the importance of perseverance, it recalls a time when discoveries were often made by hard-working amateurs - for the fun of it. JULIE just, a former children's books editor at the Book Review, is an editor at The New York Review of Books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [July 11, 2019]
Review by Booklist Review
It would have been difficult growing up in Paris during the French Revolution, not in the least because women were denied basic education, let alone opportunities for advanced studies. But this engaging picture-book biography introduces readers to determined and brilliant mathematician Sophie Germain, who chased just that. Whether trying to overcome barriers presented by her parents, society in general, or the Royal Academy of Sciences, Sophie persevered in finding solutions to daunting mathematical challenges that confounded her male contemporaries. Her work in predicting patterns of vibrations laid the foundation for advances in construction techniques that are still being used today. McClintock's intriguingly detailed illustrations highlight period details, emphasize Sophie's gentle demeanor, and exuberantly show Sophie surrounded, inspired, and even protected by swirling numerical equations that splash across pages and endpapers. Sophisticated vocabulary, evocative imagery, and lofty math concepts (though presented in an accessible manner) skew this toward a slightly older audience. Author and illustrator notes provide additional insights, making this a useful and inspiring addition for STEM collections.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Growing up during the French Revolution, mathematician Sophie Germain found in her study of mathematics the clarity and order missing in the outside world. Bardoe details Germain's shrewd determination-how she acquired notes from university courses and mailed in homework under a male name. When she becomes the first woman to receive a grand prize from the Royal Academy of Sciences, she gains notoriety as a mathematician. McClintock's scenes of 18th-century France are infused with a golden glow; numbers loom along city streets and burst from Germain's quill pen. Bardoe concludes this warm biography by emphasizing how later mathematicians built upon Germain's work "to build the Eiffel Tower in Paris and modern skyscrapers and lengthy bridges all over the world." Ages 4-8. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-An illuminating look into the life and work of Sophie Germain, a self-taught mathematician, who was the first woman to win a prize from the Paris Academy of Sciences. Bardoe's prose injects the title refrain often as the story unfolds. Germain, who came of age during the French Revolution, studied math despite her parents' wishes. Women were not allowed to attend university, but she secretly got notes from math classes and sent in homework using a male name. She worked for six years on a theorem to predict patterns of vibration, and experienced rejection at least twice before her work was accepted. The artwork-created with pen and ink, watercolor, and collage-is truly a sight to behold. McClintock depicts Germain's inner thoughts, often numbers and equations, surrounding her and at times isolating her from others. This makes the penultimate spread of Germain's prize-winning equation extending from her person and wrapping around the male scholars, even more triumphant in comparison. Extended back matter includes more about Germain's life, recommendations for further research and activities, a selected bibliography, an author's note, and an illustrator's note. VERDICT Excellent illustrations elevate the inspiring prose, making it a highly recommended choice to the growing shelf of picture book biographies featuring women in STEM.-Kacy Helwick, New Orleans Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
An early, vivid anecdote draws readers in to this compelling picture-book biography: young Sophie Germain, in Revolutionary France, would sneak out of bed at night--to study math! One morning Sophie was found bundled in blankets, asleep at her desk, next to a pot of ink that had frozen solid. At nineteen, the ever-determined mathematician borrowed university course notes and surreptitiously submitted homework under a male pseudonym. Later, she twice failed an Academy of Sciences contest until finally, with her third entry, she became the first woman awarded a grand prize, for her work on predicting vibration patterns. Bardoes writing is graceful and lyrical: Telling Sophie not to think about math was like telling a bird not to soar. And its powerful, too: the phrase nothing stopped Sophie is repeated throughout the story, serving as a nevertheless-she-persisted refrain that also ties in neatly with current math education thinking on grit and growth mindset. But what will make readers revisit this book are McClintocks spirited illustrations. Rendered in gouache, collage, and colored markers, they feature turn-of-the-nineteenth-century details (period clothing, quill pens, oil lamps) and bold, whimsical touches: Sophies swirling math equations literally knock the hats off male scholars heads. It all adds up to an inspiring portrait of the plucky, self-taught mathematician. Further biographical, historical, and mathematical information; a bibliography; and author and illustrator notes are appended. tanya d. auger (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A girl mathematician? Impossible!"Telling Sophie not to think about math was like telling a bird not to soar," but that's exactly what people did. Growing up a middle-class, white female in late-18th-century France, Sophie Germain was discouraged from studying, especially from studying math, a discipline reserved for educated men. Markers, gouache, and elements of collage energetically power illustrations that are often filled with numbers, expanding on the appealing text and emphasizing the concept of vibration that Sophie later illuminated. She sneaked out of bed to learn the basics, corresponded anonymously with experts, and struggled for fair treatment. Becoming a mathematician was challenging, but as the story's repeating, titular refrain states, "nothing stopped Sophie"not the French Revolution, not the sexism of the time, and not the mathematical complexities she worked through to discover the formula that made her the eventual winner of a prestigious academic contest. Resilience is the focus here, as well as the groundbreaking nature of her work; Sophie with her quiet focus and staunch dedication was able to make a difference by predicting patterns of vibration, information later used in architecture, as well as paving the way for other women in the field and, by implication, girls learning about math today.As an entree into the world of mathematics, this portrait of a quiet heroine is elegant, striking, and sure to inspire. (biographical and historical notes, bibliography, author's note, illustrator's note) (Picture book/biography. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
